Puppeteer's way
by Tanya95t-bird
Summary: An expedition to an unknown island leads to outcomes no one expected. Urahara a scientist along with a skilled team lead this expedition of discovery only to find that maybe they should have left the unknown well enough alone. Now the red head he had set his sights on is possibly in danger. How can he fix this? Does he even want to when he finally understands? Rated M, Yaoi Uraichi
1. Setting sail

**So new story and shit. This is a Urahara x Ichigo story with Ichigo as the uke.**

 **Not much to say here other than I hope you enjoy it. If not I'm sorry.**

 **Warning if you like Orihime don't read this story! I don't like her personally so I cant really ever write good things about her, I'm so sorry!**

 **I don't own Bleach or any of the characters. This is my story line however.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Setting sail**

News all over the networks of explorers and scientists were buzzing.

Why you may ask?

An island had been found. A remote island with no clear signs of people living for a matter of ages, all that was there of any note for the news was the hulking temple that peaked over the canopy of trees; no one knew what was in the temple.

A skilled team of different scientist and explorers were gathered.

Urahara, Mayuri and Szayel were the three lead scientists as they were highly regarded in their fields.

Each scientist was a specialist in his own field. Urahara was an explorer scientist while Mayuri was just a normal regular scientist who was curious about the possible mechanics of the temple. Szayel was an operational scientist more interested in the land around the temple for new plants to be used in medicine.

Each scientist brought their own team along with a medical group.

In this group were two doctors along with their sons and a few other medical personal such as paramedics and so forth in case someone got hurt. They also had a group of people who here rather dangerous for protection. Leading this group was Aizen Sosuke. Owner of the mercenary group as well as close friend to Urahara, hence how he got such a high paying job.

In his team was Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Nnoitra Gilga, Tier Harribel, Coyote Starrk, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck and Yammy Llargo.

At the moment Ichigo son of Isshin Kurosaki one of the doctors coming along was packing his bags. He lived alone in a small yet fancy apartment. There was a knock on the door making said male straighten up as he was about to zip up his bag.

He moved towards his front door. He looked into the peep hole and mentally groaned. On the other side of the door was his fellow university student as well as soon to be intern if he remembered right. Only problem was the girl highly annoyed him with her over bubbly attitude.

Yet he couldn't be mean to the girl. He did however know that it might have given the woman the wrong signals. What was worse was that another member of the medical team was in love with the red head woman. Signing Ichigo opened the door and turned around without saying a word. He didn't have the energy to deal with the bubbly Orihime Inoue.

"Hello Ichigo! All done packing?" She asked as she slumped her bags onto the ground without a care. That annoyed the man somewhat. This was his home she was invading sp rudely and now she probably made a nasty scuff mark on his wooden floor.

The woman walked into his kitchen and filled his kettle with water, Ichigo left to go back to his room. He did hear her opening cupboards till she found the right one and putting down mugs. The clank of teaspoons meeting different surfaces before the sound of his fridge being opened and closed, all he could do to calm himself down was count to ten inside his head and hope that the other members of their group showed up soon.

Seeing his bags as an excuse to avoid talking to the woman Ichigo opened his bag and made sure he had everything needed. For the fourth time.

There was another knock along with Orihime chiming that she would get it. Ichigo ignored the rest as he took his recheck seriously. He had enough clothes, enough socks and other undergarments, had three pairs of shoes made for hiking and such. He had his medical gear in their own bag with enough pain reliever, stitching gear and other necessities. Nodding to himself he looked up when there was a knock on his doorframe. Looking up Ichigo gave a smirk when he saw his father standing there with a grin of his own.

"Making sure I see." He commented and handed Ichigo the coffee Orihime no doubt made for him. Signing in slight annoyance he took the coffee. He took a sip but his face scrunched up in disgust when the too sweet coffee assaulted his poor tongue. He handed the coffee cup back to his father before vaulting for his bathroom where he spat out the sweet mixture of water, coffee granules, milk and what felt like forty grams of sugar.

"God how much of my sugar did she thrown in there?" Ichigo gasped looking into the mirror back at his father who took a sip himself. His father had a stronger sweet tooth so he could at least swallow it but he too made a face. "Well I am guessing more than the two teaspoons you normally drink." His father quipped.

His father knew that he was gay long before and it didn't bother him. Ichigo had witnessed his mother's murder after all and went through a lot of hardships. He just wanted his son to be happy, besides his two daughters could give him grandchildren.

Isshin Kurosaki was contacted by a Scientist named Urahara Kisuke, he wanted to know if it was possible to get a medical team together to go exploring and keep them healthy. His son having heard the whole thing made such an excited look, that there was no way that the elder Kurosaki couldn't possibly not agree to partake the exploration as the medical team captain. Ichigo demanded to be able to come along. Knowing that Ichigo wanted to become a trauma doctor he agreed knowing it would help his son immensely. He then contacted Ishida senior asking the silver haired man if he would join or knew of someone who could help. Senior Ishida agreed to come along seeing it as a very good opportunity to get out and apparently bond with his son who would be joining as well.

Uryuu had invited Orihime who was also a med student planning on becoming a nurse with a little more experience than most as it was her last year before she would switch to nursing. Ichigo had invited his pal Chad who was on his way to becoming a paramedic.

A few other medical members were tagged along.

Ichigo used his mouthwash to take the taste of vile over sweet coffee out of his mouth. Once he was done he poured the coffee down the drain without remorse. It was vile coffee, and he didn't owe the girl anything. He didn't even really know her.

Signing Ichigo flopped onto his bed and zipped up his bag. There was another knock and an overly chirpy Orihime. There was silence meaning Orihime probably didn't know who the person on the other side was. Ichigo stood and walked to the front door to see his tall Hispanic friend looking down at the girl in confusion. "Hey Chad." Ichigo said and moved to the door. Orihime had to quickly get out of the way lest she wanted to be in the way. She saw Ichigo smile up at the larger male in a friendly fashion.

She just couldn't do anything it seemed to get Ichigo to smile at her. She remembered when she saw the man for the first time. It was the briefing room for all the doctors and medical staff going along with the explorers.

Ichigo was leaning against the back wall standing next to his father and the Hispanic man now joining their group. Ichigo didn't look around him, he only listened to the blue haired man scientist came to get them up to date with the plans and dates of the day of flight where they would fly to the nearest airport then by sea they would go forth to the island that has never been seen before.

Now it was D-day.

Only two more people had to show up. The reason why they all gather at his apartment was due to the fact it was closest to the airport and the company the scientists worked for would send transport to only one address as they had to stop at other locations along the way.

A few minutes later after Ichigo had dragged his two bags to the living room to sit down next his best friend and also to avoid talking to Orihime. On the dot ten in the morning there was a rap on the door. Isshin opened the door this time greeting his fellow co-worker and his son. Uryuu's eyes lit up when he saw Orihime in her light yellow sundress. Ichigo scoffed wondering how the woman failed to notice the love in her friend's eyes.

Uryuu misread the scoff for an act of arrogance.

With all needed members at the ready the men and woman gathered their things. Ichigo walked out last arming his alarm and locking his door.

They all made their way down stairs to the waiting cars.

* * *

Urahara was already at the dock, on the large ship waiting to take them over the vast blue sea to the small island he founded by chance. He was so excited he was practically vibrating where he stood next to his friend and co explorer.

Yoruichi couldn't help but giggle at her friend. The man loved to find and discover new things and places. She sometimes wished that he could use that enthusiasm to find someone to settle down with but alas nobody had yet to catch the blonde man's eye.

Urahara was one of the youngest ever scientist known to mankind. He was just twenty six. He came from a family of smart people so it was obvious that the blonde would have an early start, his father was an explorer as himself while his mother worked in a lab finding cures for illnesses.

Now he was leading his very first expedition. He had funding and the help of other smart minded people. The scientific team and brawn team were already onboard; they were now waiting for half of the medical team to arrive. The group took longer due to them being from farther away and their need to get their medical supplies at the hospital, clearance at the airports and such.

"So Kisuke…" the mocha skinned woman beside him drawled. He groaned knowing where the conversation was going. His childhood best friend was worried about him, told it so to his face on more than one occasion. She had good intentions he supposed but it wasn't his fault that no one caught his eye.

"I know I know Yor, but I just want someone with that spark I suppose." He said and looked to the purple haired woman to his side. She was about to speak but that was the same time that two SUV vehicles, one with a trailer attached to the end rolled into the docking bay. The two people were soon joined by the rest of the people on board.

"So the medical team is here?" Starkk of the mercenaries sniper spoke lazily as he hung his arms over the railing while resting his chin on the wooden top. "Finally!" Nnoitra nearly roared from where he stood between Yammi and Grimmjow.

The blue haired man watched with interest as the doctors climbed out of the cars. First to climb out was a woman with long orange hair and big grey eyes, she wore a yellow summer dress that enhanced her already large bosom.

Her breasts were nowhere near as big as Harribel's but still big. Next was a stiff looking young man with blue black hair and blue eyes, he wore a white shirt with a large blue cross over it, his pants where neat slacks and dress shoes he also had a pair of dark blue square glasses. After that a man with silvery white hair and blue eyes and a silver pair of square glasses similar to the younger man stepped out. He was similarly dressed only his shirt had no blue cross over it. They were riding in the front car that didn't have the trailer.

The car behind it stopped closer to the ship so that the trailer could be unhooked and emptied into the ship's cargo hold. The first person to step out of the SUV was a tall Hispanic man that didn't really suit the look of a doctor so they all guessed that he was a paramedic, he was wearing a tight red three quarter shirt and brown pants with brown running shoes. The next person to step out was a dark haired male with slight stubble and a loud Hawaiian shirt. The last person to step out got a few raised eyebrows.

"That guy should be a model not a doc." Grimmjow said with big eyes as he watched the man climb out the SUV. The woman before had orange hair was well but this man's hair was a more shocking shade that coloured the shoulder length tresses, he was lightly tanned with what looked like rather big brown eyes that were slightly angular. The man was frowning as if he was annoyed.

The dark haired man with the Hawaiian shirt made his way over to the orange haired man and threw an arm around his shoulder. It was then when the similarities between the two showed. The taller man was waving his arm wildly while it looked like he was talking rather excitedly with the red head. Said red head just arched a brow. The other three members made their way over to their group.

There was a very static vibe amongst the two younger men, the raven haired man pushed up his glasses as he spoke. He clearly said the wrong thing as the red head launched himself at the raven haired man. The sheer quickness the man showed impressed them all. The Hispania had quickly grabbed hold of the red head but he didn't account for the reach of the red head's arms as one hand shot out and grabbed the raven by the shirt.

The orange haired man pulled the wide eyed male closer. Whatever he must have said clearly shocked those around them as the silver haired man couldn't seem to move while the dark haired man who they all assumed to be the father of the red head smiled smugly almost proudly. The red head shoved the raven haired man away and walked away with the Hispanic man and father in tow. They all helped the ship crew carry bags and crates inside.

The other three just made their way up the ramp. The woman looked uncomfortable to say the least. Once they were on board they all watched as the rest of the medical group walk up as well. The red head was last to climb off the ramp.

He was wearing a simple pair of jeans. Black shirt and black all stars. He was looking all around him not really taking in the people he would be sharing the ship with for three days. Yoruichi turned to talk to Urahara but paused when she saw something she had never before seen.

Urahara was staring, yes staring at the red head with a look of pure fascination. This fascination was what she had always wanted to see on the blonde's face. He was interested in the red head. She walked over to the group of six, these where the last but most important members of the medical team as the paramedics of the nearby hospital where here before and were already inside.

"Hello glad you could make it." She said with a friendly smile.

The dark haired older male walked forward. "Hello I'm Isshin Kurosaki, lead doctor of the medical team. This is my son Ichigo who is a trauma doctor in training and his friend Chad Yasutora a paramedic in training." The man gestured towards Ichigo who was staring off into the distance not seemingly paying attention while Chad just nodded.

However the moment the group walked closer his eyes snapped in their direction. The silvery haired man sighed and pushed up his glasses. "My name is Ryūken Ishida, this is my son Uryuu and our helping hand Orihime Inoue."

Orihime gave a bubbly wave, her innocent aura made most wonder if she would be able to handle the ship ride as well as the large mass of male testosterone. Luckily there was Harribel and Nel.

The captain of the ship came them claiming that the ship was about to leave the harbour. Kisuke gave the captain the go-ahead to proceed. Then the blonde looked at the medical group, his eyes kept giving the red head glances. Said red head was looking at him as well. It was then when he and the rest noticed the man was frowning, it wasn't a nasty frown neither was it an annoyed frown. It looked like the man was just frowning for the hell of it.

"My name is Kisuke Urahara and I am the head scientist. This is Szayel Granz and Mayuri Kurotsuchi my fellow scientists. This lovely woman beside me is Yoruichi Shihōin" the blonde had gained Ichigo's attention almost instantaneously. The blonde had a goofy almost playful aura about him as if he was excited which in their situation would make sense as he was apparently the lead scientist.

He was wearing what looked like a pair of grey green slacks with dress shoes and a white dress shirt. It was obvious that the man came straight from a meeting of some sort. The other two men where white lab coats obscuring what they wore underneath besides the lower part of their legs and feet which wore normal clothes, Yoruichi wore some slim fitting track pants with a black strap top. The woman was sexy.

The next group came closer. Ichigo brown eyes drifted away from the blonde as the more colourful group introduced themselves. Aizen stepped forward and placed his right hand over his chest with a charming smile he introduced himself.

"Greetings my name is Aizen Sosuke, owner of the Espada mercenary group. " Sharp brown eyes saw that Chad and Ichigo looked at each other impressed. Well seemed two of the group knew of them. Starkk moved forward in his lazy fashion. "Name's Starkk Coyote and I am going to take a nap." He said and stalked off. Ichigo just raised a brow looking half amused.

Harribel and Nel introduced themselves in their own unique manner, Harribel to the point bluntness and Nel bubbly but not as annoying as Orihime. A man with shocking blue hair gave a wide grin showing off sharp teeth. "Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez." The tallest man Ichigo had ever seen gave a piano grin that made him think of his one friend Shinji.

"Nnoitra Gilga." They all went into the ship's mess hall afterwards for something to drink. The ship was one of the smaller ships but big enough for most facilities to be big and spacious.

The medical team stuck together getting duties and such under way and so made a good plan with roles for everyone. Once done Ichigo and Chad left the room going back up to go watch what was happening on top of the upper deck.

They stayed there for a while but come down later because it got chilly. The two where bunking with Kurosaki senior. The Ishida males got their own room while Orihime bunked with Harribel and Nel.

When dinner time arrived the all made way to the mess hall once more. This time they sat where they wanted to. Kurosaki senior and Ishida senior were discussing patients quietly in the one corner. Ichigo and Chad were chatting idly in the middle of one of the two long tables. Orihime zoned in on the other red head and walked over skipping a little bit nearly spilling her drink. She sat herself down next to Ichigo who scooted away the moment she sat down, the woman didn't seem to notice. Before the woman could speak Grimmjow took the chance to get to know the interesting red head better. He sat down on the other side of the red head. He also noticed that the man didn't scoot away from him.

That was probably because he did know what personal space was.

"So Ichigo was it?" his gruff voice drifted through the air. Ichigo's brown eyes met his cobalt blue hues. Grimmjow liked the look in the male's eyes. There was defiance in there, a will that spoke of someone who didn't give up.

"Yeah, Grimmjow right?" Ichigo's tenor suited his face Grimmjow decided. Ichigo had sharp features but not as sharp as his. Ichigo's nose had a softer tip and his face was thinner and had a sharp chin where he had a more wide jaw. Ichigo's eyes were almond in shape but upturned when they reached the outer part of them giving him angular eyes whereas Grimmjow's cat-like eyes.

The blue haired man nodded and started to munch on his food still eying the red head as he also ate. Orihime tried to get the man into a conversation but it seemed that the red head had no interest in the other red head.

"Trauma doctor, that the doctors that work on you when you get in an accident?" Grimmjow asked getting tired of Orihime's sickly sweet voice. Uryuu came then and sat down across Orihime. He pushed up his glasses. "Yes that's the only doctor Ichigo could possibly be." The man gave a snarky remark.

Grimmjow wasn't prepared for the red head to once again grab the man's shirt using his taller body to easily grab a hold of Uryuu's shirt. Ichigo's eyes were ablaze with anger and annoyance.

"Listen here you little shit. Say one more thing about my choice of roles to pursue and I won't resist making your eyes mach your hair. Trauma doctors work just as hard as any other doctor. They work with people who are on death's door. Hold you fucking opinion to yourself next time because I never recalled anyone ever asking you for yours mister cardio surgeon wannabe." Ichigo hissed and sat down again eating as if he didn't just threatened to give the man slightly across him two black eyes he was fully capable of giving.

The whole room was deathly quiet. Orihime shifted as she looked from Uryuu to Ichigo. The red head had calmed down easily having said his say. Uryuu knew better than to run his tongue.

The one thing Ichigo always had been touchy about was his choice in doctor roles he chose. It seemed that Ichigo's patience was growing thin with him and his constant jabbing at his pride. He just couldn't help it. He wanted to sully the man's standing in Orihime's eyes. He knew Ichigo wasn't interested in Orihime, why he didn't know.

But Orihime only seemed to have eyes for Ichigo who didn't even glance her way as he spoke with the blue haired man. Chad had gotten into the chat as well giving one word mumbles most of the times while sometimes giving a full sentence.

Once dinner was over Ichigo walked with his empty tray to the kitchen window and gave the chef nearby his tray and a warm thank you. He left the room without looking back. Grimmjow glanced at Chad seeing the man slowly eating his food not worried about Ichigo leaving making the blue haired man think that Ichigo must have told the taller man where he'd be off to.

* * *

Ichigo was walking down the hallway, the rooms where all bare as far as he could see by the lack of light coming from the doors. One door however was open and streamed light into the hallway. Pocking his head in he saw it was Urahara's room and said man was sitting looking over maps. Ichigo tapped the metal frame making the blonde look up in surprise.

With a wave of the hand Urahara beckoned Ichigo inside. Seeing as he was given permission Ichigo came over and looked at the map of the world where there was a small red cross in the middle of a large mass of blue. "Is that where the island is?" Ichigo asked and leaned closer to look at the pretty map. However to do so he had to lean near Urahara's shoulder, the blonde haired man subtly inhaled the red head's smell.

He smelled… heavenly.

A mix of something spicy and musky.

Ichigo looked to Urahara. "Do you know where we are now?" he asked with a little excitement shining through in his brown eyes that looked like chocolate and caramel melted together.

He cleared his throat and looked down at the map; he pointed a long finger at a small area just a little away from the big chunk that was a piece of America. "So not that far yet? Well we did set sail late afternoon so I guess we'll make up for it tomorrow?" Ichigo asked looking back at Urahara as he rose to his full height of five foot eleven maybe six foot Urahara wasn't sure.

"Yes the ship will continue sailing throughout the night and into the next day. We won't stop to refuel or such as the ship has enough for a two way journey." Urahara said and watched as Ichigo started to sniffled through his photographs he had taken of the temple when he discovered the island.

"Oh, how did you even discover this place?" Ichigo asked as he looked though the photos of the forest and odd looking plants.

Urahara's eyes lit up in happiness as well as excitement. "Ah I was travelling with my father who does the same as I do, we were actually looking for underwater structures and such. Anything really, it's a fun pass time for my father and I. while sailing we just… came upon the island I suppose. I checked the maps to see if it was on them but there was nothing." Urahara watched Ichigo as he told his tale. The longer he told the less Ichigo looked at the photos.

By the end Ichigo was looking at him. A smile found its way on Ichigo's face. "Sounds like fun." Ichigo said looking down at the photos once again, the last few photos where close ups of the temple. The moment Ichigo saw these he frowned. "Something wrong?" Urahara asked looking a little concerned.

Ichigo's eyes looked up from the photos.

"I get an odd feeling from these." Ichigo said and handed the photos back.

"Oh?" Urahara inquired looking at the photos of the temple. The temple had an Aztec feeling with Norse like carvings. No longer decipherable at all, they were chipped and faded. There was vine like plants growing all over and the entryway was blocked by large rocks that explosives at the right places could easily get rid of.

"Yeah I feel… I guess I'd say… I feel like I want to go there no… more like I need to go there." Ichigo sounded confused by his own words but shrugged it off. "Ha I'm probably just being a curious cat again." Ichigo laughed with Urahara joining in.

The two men chatted more about the temple and island.

"So what was the island like?" Ichigo asked now sitting on the blonde's bed after asking him of course. He had removed his shoes and was now hugging his knees with his chin resting on the one knee. Brown eyes were looking at grey ones.

Urahara sat back in his chair looking up in thought.

"Well it was rather tropical, odd plants I have never seen before were everywhere. The trees were old and formed a canopy shielding most light but they have light leaves so it's still bright. It smelled clean as one would expect from somewhere nowhere near the pollution of our everyday world.

Ichigo was listening closely as he explained all the plants he saw the smells he smelt and as much detail as he could. Ichigo didn't look bored one moment. When he was done Ichigo leaned back onto the bed and sighed.

"I can't wait to see it for myself." Ichigo said looking up at the ceiling. Urahara hummed as he watched the red head stretch much like a cat arching its back. Ichigo rolled onto his side looked back at Urahara, a comfortable silence settled upon them.

Urahara remembered what Isshin said about his son.

"Trauma doctor in training? How old are you f I may ask?" Urahara asked and watched as Ichigo's eyes roll back to him from where he laid.

"I'm twenty two in a few months. My old man said that because I already chose which direction I want to go in. I'm still a student." Ichigo said and rolled onto his stomach, his shirt twisted with him leaving his stomach and lower back exposed.

Urahara glanced at the smooth looking skin before looking back to Ichigo's brown eyes that looked on the droopy side. "This is my fourth year. I started uni after high school. My father had gotten me medical books since I showed interest in pursuing a medical career. Probably the happiest day of his life when I asked him to buy me a book on illnesses and such, I think I was thirteen when I asked that. Never turned back or got bored with it." Ichigo said as he rose slowly allowing his black shirt to fall back down as gravity lent its hand.

"My mom was a nurse as well so I was always surrounded by the medical life. My twin baby sisters are now staying with my aunt, one of them want to follow in our mother's footsteps and become a nurse even though she loves cooking. My other one wants to become a soccer player or police woman." Ichigo's face softened when he spoke of his family.

Urahara did notice the 'was' when he spoke about his mother. "Your mother?" He asked hoping he wasn't crossing the line.

Ichigo just gave a sad smile.

"She died when I was nine, she was shot in a robbery gone bad." Ichigo's manner of speaking made Urahara wonder if it was a long time ago, enough time for the male to come to terms with what had happened, and if so he done so remarkably well.

"That is rather horrible." He commented.

Ichigo shrugged. Before anyone could speak Isshin poked his head in the room seeing his son on the bed while Urahara was behind his desk. There was no weird vibe in the room, merely a friendly one. Ichigo grinned at his father.

"Yo goat face." He greeted making Isshin grin back. "Just wanted to see where you are." The man said and stepped into the room. Urahara saw the easy going attitude the two Kurosaki's had with one another. It warmed his heart that there were still families who took tragedy as a way of growing stronger not falling apart.

These would be three interesting days indeed.

* * *

 **Okay so thanks for reading and everything. I hope it wasn't boring, if you have questions please ask and I'll get back to you.**

 **I will update as soon as possible!**

 **Also I don't know if I will be able to get Urahara's signature hate and other do dads un here... hope that's okay... XC**


	2. Falling strings

**Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Falling strings**

The next day brought on salty air and hungry stomachs. They all shuffled into the mess hall, lined up to get their food and found a spot by the two tables to eat. It was quiet until the women appeared. Orihime was talking far too quickly but it seemed that Nel could easily keep up and talked just as fast.

Nel and the two other women got their food and made their way to the large group consisting of Ichigo, Grimmjow, Starkk, Chad, Nnoitra and Ishida who was sitting somewhat apart from the group, said group was starting to get rowdier as they grew more awake and energy driven due to having food in their bellies.

The sea foam coloured haired woman sat down next to Starkk who wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her closer. Ichigo looked at them in curiosity. The couple saw this and both raised their left hands to show wedding bands. "Been married for four years now." Nel said with a happy smile. Ichigo gave them a grin in return, the two oddly matched.

Starkk was lethargic while Nel was bubbly in a manner that was adorable, he had seen the woman quiet down and become serious in one conversation the previous day.

They all chatted in comfort. Orihime had to sit next to Ishida because Ichigo was surrounded by people. It never seized to amazed Uryuu how easily Ichigo made friends with those around him, the red head had some sort of magnetic aura about him.

It was infuriating sometimes.

But the raven haired med student knew Ichigo didn't know he had this aura as he was constantly complaining about people coming onto him when he went out with his friends.

Now said red head was chatting with Grimmjow about something involving violence.

"Wait so you were a martial arts champion?" Grimmjow asked with large eyes. Ichigo looked his way with an awkward smile. "Yeah I was but after an accident I had to give it up, I can fight when need to but I'll be in pain the day after." Ichigo said rubbing his shoulder with a slight grimace.

"What happened?" Nnoitra asked leaning forward. Ichigo shifted and lowered his left sleeve as much as it allowed showing the beginning of what looked like a medical scar. "I was in a car accident, was driving with some friends home when a drunk driver t-boned our car on my side. I dislocated my shoulder as well as tore a few muscles and tendons. I also got a few cracked ribs, the one driving was badly hurt as well but he made it out alive too along with the other two passengers on the other side of the car, they only got a few scrapes and bumps." Ichigo shrugged pulling his sleeve up.

Nel looked like she was about to cry.

"And the drunk driver?" Starkk asked knowing Nel wanted to know.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck.

"Dead on impact." Everyone was silent.

"Don't forget the concussion you had." Isshin said as he came up behind his son. Ichigo looked up at his father while Isshin looked down.

"It was a horrible day that I doubt I would ever forget. I was just ending my shift when Ryūken came in running telling me Ichigo was in the ER. After that the doctor told me that Ichigo would have trouble moving his left arm but Ichigo showed them afterwards. He took his rehab seriously and in a matter of two years his arm as good as new. It just can't handle a lot of rough housing."

"How young were you?" Harribel asked showing she was listening the whole time. Ichigo looked up in thought.

"Sixteen while my friends were older than me." Ichigo said looking the blonde woman in the eyes. After that they moved on to lighter subjects. This whole conversation surprised Uryuu, he never knew Ichigo was in an accident. He glanced at his father seeing the man talking to the pink haired scientist.

After breakfast most of the men ventured into the ship's gym. The five met went to a machine getting ready to burn off some energy. They where half an hour in when Aizen came in wearing a pair of white track pants, running shoes and a purple shirt, none of the Espada second glanced only greeted their boss.

Ichigo was using one of the two treadmills, seeing as there was no better thing to warm up with Aizen took the treadmill next to the red head. Aizen was curious about the red head. Yoruichi had informed him of Urahara's expression when he saw the red head.

He and his wife were on good terms with the blonde and wanted to see the man happy. If this red head could make Urahara happy he would see to it that they end up together. Ichigo who had in I-pod in his ears blasting away music didn't notice the stared he got as he kept a steady yet father fast pace showing that he regularly jogs or runs in this case.

Grimmjow was on one of the two benches using the hand weights to pump iron, Nnoitra was using the weight machine where he had to pull the handle bar down, his long arms helped here but he was surprisingly strong for someone as lanky as he was. Starkk was using the leg lift machine while Chad did sit ups on a bench where your legs were locked in.

They all watched as Ichigo increased the machine's speed easily keeping up. Ichigo could no longer use most weight machines for more than ten minutes before his shoulder would act up. It started with a stiff sensation before pain would flare in his arm.

So he now kept to running, swimming and Pilates as well as yoga. This all helped him keep up his current strength as well as fitness level. The flexibility was just an added bonus. Once he was done and all sweaty he decided he was done, there wasn't anything else he could do, he pulled off his earphones as the machine made deeping noises telling the user it was slowing down. Breathing hard Ichigo used is towel to rub the sweat off his face.

Chad stood up and whipped off the sweat on the seat before walking to the treadmill. Ichigo grinned lopsidedly before making his way over to the bench. Push ups where a no-no but he could do sit ups with ease.

Seeing that the red head wasn't going to put on his I-pod Aizen took his time to speak.

"You seem very fit for someone who does a course to become a doctor." Aizen commented not taking his eyes off Ichigo who started to go his sit ups. A few in and Ichigo finally answered.

"I train whenever I have the time. Mostly on breaks such as now." Ichigo said and looked back to the man who finished his run and now swapped around with his underlings.

He was now using the hand weights closets to Ichigo so they could talk easier and Ichigo could actually look at him in a forward angle. "You seem rather fit as well, tough being a mercenary group leader?" Ichigo asked with a playful grin. The man's eyebrows were always in a state of frowning but it appeared that the man was always frowning to some degree and that it was just how he was.

Aizen chuckled at this. Ichigo wasn't one scared of other's standings it seemed.

"Yes, I can't be a fat old man who can't even climb a flight of stairs without getting winded. That would be disgraceful." The man said holding is head high. Ichigo snickered at the mental image. He continued to do his sit ups.

They all worked out in silence till a rather sleepy looking Urahara stumbled into the room nearly tripping over the metal door threshold. Ichigo and the rest watched amused as the sleepy man looked around clearly not where he wanted to be.

"My my this isn't the mess hall." The blonde was wearing a pair of comfy sweats and white shirt with loafers that were a dark blue. Ichigo chuckled while resting back against the bench. "How on earth do you mistake the mess hall that's a whole floor above us for the gym?" Ichigo asked with a look of amusement in his eyes.

Urahara now more awake when he heard Ichigo's voice looked around and blushed faintly.

The rest of the room laughed or snickered at this. Ichigo just sighed and rose. He cleaned off the bench with his towel before walking to Urahara's side. "Come on I'll walk with you. I feel like a shower anyway." Ichigo and the blonde left the room.

"Heh Blondie has a thing for the fiery red head huh?" Grimmjow said taking Ichigo's place. Chad nodded gaining their attention. "He's in luck then, Ichigo's been gay since high school." The man said and cleaned his space before leaving the room as well. Aizen was rather pleased at finding out that the red head swung the same way as Urahara.

Excellent.

* * *

Urahara kept glancing at Ichigo, oh how embarrassing was that?

Ichigo however didn't seem to find it stupid just amusing. "How late did you sleep to miss breakfast?" Ichigo asked looking over at the blonde noticing he wore his shirt inside out. Holding a hand out to tug at the tag making the just faded red on the blonde's cheeks return full force, for some reason Ichigo like doing it.

"Your shirt is inside out you know…" Ichigo said tugging the tag one more time before stopping at his room first. Ichigo got his bath supplies and a new bundle of clothes to wear. They made their way onward till they reached the showers for the men. Ichigo waved Urahara off but the blonde followed him inside, he arched a brown but understood when Urahara took off his shirt. Ichigo swallowed hard when he saw that Urahara had much to hide underneath his shirt. Hard lines and smooth looking skin, realising he was ogling someone he didn't even know was gay made him blush hard and spin around.

This didn't slip past the blonde who looked at Ichigo once his back was turned his way. And what a back it was if he did say so. Smooth long muscles that were not buff or bulging, those were the muscles of someone who did little weight lifting but still strengthened their muscles by other means.

Ichigo ruffled his sweat slicken hair making it stand even more messy and spiky. Urahara pulled his shirt over his head again, Ichigo had by that time chosen a shower cubical and stepped inside. Urahara watched as Ichigo's shoes, pants and underwear were thrown skilfully into the bag that was wide open for the exact reason of catching the clothes.

The shy act was incredibly cute to Urahara. The sound of the shower going on releasing the spray of hot water down a very naked Ichigo made Urahara gulp and flee the room.

Walking down the hallway Urahara tried hard not to let his mind wander at what was in the bathroom. In a white tiled shower cubical, naked water slicken muscles with smooth lightly tanned skin… Urahara was sure he was drooling. Wiping his mouth just in case he really had been drooling at the mental image inside his head he made it to the mess hall. The chefs noticed him and smirked at him just as the others have.

He was given a tray with food in it. When he sat down he was joined by a still slightly sweaty Aizen. The man's brown hues danced with something Urahara couldn't quiet grasp. He nodded to his friend. "How's Momo?" He asked to be polite.

Aizen nodded his head before sipping from his water bottle he had with him. "She's doing well, she told me to tell you she said hello and you should come over for dinner when this is over." The man smiled he ever polite smile.

Urahara nodded as he ate while looking at his friend who clearly had something to tell him if he skipped the shower. "I have a juicy bit of information about Ichigo for you." The man said with a teasing tone to his voice. Urahara looked up from his food when he had to look down to see what he was picking up with his fork.

"Oh?" He said making sure he didn't sound too eager.

The brunette smirked.

"Seems you both play for the same team." He said before standing up and leaving the room without a backward glance, if he had he would have seen a very happy smiling Urahara.

* * *

The rest of the day went by peacefully until a loud curse word floated through the air along with a loud howling laughter that sounded very much like Nnoitra.

Ichigo was lying on his bunk going through some of his textbooks he brought with when there was a loud knock on his doorframe. Looking up his eyes went wide when he saw Grimmjow with a bloody towel held to his head while a snickering Nnoitra was behind him.

Grimmjow looked ready to kill the man behind him at any minute. Standing up and placing his book on his bunk he motioned for the two to enter. "What the hell?" he asked making Grimmjow kneel between his legs so he could see the wound better. He gently took the towel from Grimmjow's slightly shaking hands. He looked to the tall man who finally stopped laughing once he saw the serious face of Ichigo.

"Get him something to eat and drink please I think his blood pressure is dropping due to blood loss." Ichigo's no nonsense tone made Nnoitra jump into action bolting from the room. Ichigo in the mean while took his book and placed it on the shared desk of the three bunks. He then made Grimmjow sit on his bunk not really caring if it got dirty. Still holding the towel gently only applying enough pressure to help stem the flow of blood, Ichigo gently lifted the one nook of the towel to see the damage where he saw it wasn't as bad as he expected.

Feeling Ichigo relax made him feel better about the wound.

"Right alright you'll need stitches I'm afraid but if you give me enough time and promise to sit still I can stitch it so that it will hardly leave a mark." Ichigo said taking Grimmjow's hand making him hold the towel again. "Y-yeah…" Grimmjow said feeling rather dizzy. Nnoitra came back with a quick sandwich and a sugary drink. Both men helped the blue haired man eat as his hands were bloody. Once the man had some food in him and shook less did Ichigo place surgical gloves over his hands and dug into his medical bag. He got out pain reliever that worked as a numbing agent. He took out a packaged syringe and needle. He worked methodically getting the right amount of clear liquid into the plastic container and walked over to Grimmjow who was eyeing the needle warily.

Ichigo gave a soft smile with no hints of mockery or even smugness. "You'll only feel a small prick." Ichigo said and came closer till he was now standing between the blue haired man's legs to look down at the wound as the blood soaked towel was removed. Working quickly Ichigo injected the pain reliever into the skin near the wound. He chucked the used syringe into the small yellow container on the table before grabbing cotton swabs and disinfectant. He quickly cleaned the wound making Grimmjow hiss now and again.

When he was done the pain reliever finally kicked in making the area numb and the blue haired man pain free for a few hours as well as very lethargic. Ichigo then grabbed his needle and stitching wire along with the small scissor. They made Grimmjow lean forward while Nnoitra held him steady, now having more light Ichigo gently started to stitch the two loose pieces of skin together working slowly so he could work the skin together as perfectly as he could.

"So what happened?" Ichigo asked and looked up at the raven haired man before going back to concentrating on stitching. Nnoitra chuckled awkwardly before sighing. "Grimmy and I were just hanging out, having a bit on fun when he tripped and he hit his head on the bunk's frame." Nnoitra seemed uncomfortable as he stared at the blue haired man who was resting his head against his stomach to keep it steady.

The pet name didn't escape Ichigo.

A sly smirk crawled onto Ichigo's face as he did the last stitch.

"Oh… having a bit of 'fun' eh?" he said and got some anti bacterial cream and gently applied it after he cleaned the last bit of blood from the blue haired man's face. Nnoitra was now looking torn between surprised and smug.

Ichigo just laughed and applied a band-aid over the area. He patted the blue hair.

"How long? Or are you two just playing around?" Ichigo asked as he watched Nnoitra lift the woozy man onto his feet before throwing his arm around the man's shoulder to keep him up. "Eh just playing around." Nnoitra said not taking his eye off Grimmjow.

He missed the knowing look on Ichigo's face as they left the room with a quick thanks thrown over the raven male's shoulder.

"Pfft I bet you want it to be more than playing." Ichigo mumbled to himself before ripping off his gloves and throwing them into the yellow container. He closed the container and cleaned up the area happy to see there was no blood around his bed and the bloody towel as on the floor not his bed, Ichigo picked it up and opened the yellow container again to throw it in.

Happy that all was clean he sat down on his head with his book in hand ready to go on from where he was studying but the knock on the door made him look up to see his father with a curious look on his face. "Why does it smell like disinfectant?" he asked and sits down next to Ichigo.

Ichigo just smirked.

"Grimmjow got a nasty wound and I just stitched it up. I don't know why they didn't go to the medical bay, probably because I was closer to them than the medical bay." Ichigo shrugged and placed his book back into his bag.

Isshin just shook his head with a smile.

"I am glad I showed you how to stitch before you even went to med school." Ichigo just chuckled. Then the bell for lunch rang. Both Kurosaki men stood and walked to the mess hall. There Ichigo got a tray of food but didn't sit to eat it.

He walked out the door with curious eyes trailing him, his father followed after him curious to see where his son was off to. Ichigo stopped at the room three doors down from them and knocked. Nnoitra's curse could be heard muffled on the other side. The door opened and the one eyed man looked surprised when he saw Ichigo with a tray of food.

Smirking Ichigo handed the tray to the man.

"You can't leave him alone. A bump to the head needs to be monitored. Wake him up every two hours till tonight to make sure he doesn't have a concussion." Ichigo instructed to the taller man who nodded. "Thanks…" he said surprised by the act of kindness. Ichigo snickered when he walked past his father. The man just smiled at his son.

The two walked back to the mess hall to grab lunch and again Urahara didn't show up. It was dinner time when Ichigo carried two trays to the blonde's room. He was happy to see said man's room was open, he didn't have the hands to open the heavy metal door. He saw the blonde behind his desk yet again. With a smirk he walked till he was in front of the desk, he looked and saw an empty spot for the tray. Leaning down Ichigo gently placed the tray down starling Urahara somewhat.

He looked around him, at Ichigo then at the clock on the desk. Grey eyes go wide. "Oh dear I believe I missed lunch." He said and as if to prove his statement his stomach gave a growl clearly heard by the red head who laughed as he took his seat on the blonde's bunk bed with his tray on his lap. Urahara joined in on the laugh not really feeling embarrassed.

"What has you so occupied that you forget lunch and nearly dinner?" Ichigo asked and watched as Urahara practically inhale his dinner. Once he was done he motioned Ichigo over. Placing his half eaten dinner to the side Ichigo rose and moved over.

On the table was the map form last night.

"Remember where I told you where last night?" he said pointing back at the spot he had the night before. Ichigo nodded not really seeing where the conversation was going. Urahara suddenly looked excited. "This is where we were supposed to be." He said his finger moving a little bit closer to the island red cross.

"However this is where we are now." He said moving his finger even closer to the red cross. Ichigo might not have known much about reading maps and such but he could grasp that the ship had moved more than it should have been able to for the weight and such. Brown eyes looked up at Urahara.

"How is that even possible?" he asked not believing it yet Urahara wouldn't lie about this, would he?

"I don't know if it could be true but it could be the island but that would be impossible. Nothing should be able to move this large ship so quickly through the water. It is impossible… however this has shortened our trip greatly. We will be by the island by sunrise tomorrow if a calculated correctly." Urahara watched as Ichigo returned to his meal a look of confusion on his face.

"This is weird." Ichigo said now playing with his food appetitive seemly gone.

"What's weird?" Urahara asked as he watched Ichigo finally push the tray away. "This whole thing. I keep feeling more on edge the closer we get to the island yet my instincts don't tell me its danger. This temple even in pictures screams out to me and then this whole going faster than we should be able to thing." Ichigo mumbled rubbing the back of his neck.

Ichigo shook his head and rose to take the tray from Urahara's desk, he walked back to his half full tray.

"If what you say is true and we arrive at the island by morning you should get some sleep." Ichigo said and looked over his shoulder with an amused smile making Urahara think back on this morning and giving a grin in return.

"Is that doctor's orders?" he quipped with a teasing tone.

Ichigo's head tipped back as he laughed. "Yes. Doctor's order. Good night Urahara." Ichigo said but was stopped from leaving by the blonde.

"Kisuke. Please call me by my name." he said with a smile that he got in return.

"Alright. Good night Kisuke." Ichigo walked out the door back to the mess hall to return the trays and get a light tongue lashing from his father at no eating all his food, he was already eating half portion.

That night Ichigo for the life of him couldn't even follow his own advice and fall asleep. The entire night had Ichigo tossing and turning trying to fall asleep but sleep never came to him leaving him tired by morning light.

* * *

The light of the next day brought the island. It was bright green, it was roughly the shape of a crescent moon with the temple in the middle. There was a deep area along the island's more rocky part where they could dock the ship.

Everyone was busy getting dressed in their gear. Ichigo, Isshin and the rest would go into the temple while the Ishida duo with the paramedics would be outside for any injuries there with Szayel's team. Wearing a white shirt with khaki coloured cargo pants and hiking boots. Everyone was in similar dress code. Grimmjow was up and perfectly fine for duty getting the okay from Kurosaki senior who double checked that the scar would indeed be hair thin and hardly noticeable.

They all helped unload the needed things. First were the explosives that were being armed by Nnoitra with the help of Grimmjow and Aizen. While they were busy the medical team and scientific teams got their tents and such ready believing that they would be on the island for a while.

Once all was done the sound of the explosives and Nnoitra's whooping noises drew the group near. Orihime tried all morning to talk to Ichigo but Ichigo just brushed her off saying he was busy. Truth be told he was busy and tired due to lack of sleep. He couldn't even manage to eat any of his breakfast much to his father distress.

He was pale he knew it. He didn't nor could understand what was going on with him. However it seemed his constant rudeness towards Orihime was getting to Uryuu. It was when they got ready to go inside the temple that he declared he was going with them. Not feeling like arguing Ichigo just shrugged his shoulder.

His lack of fire was noticed by everyone.

Szayel and a few of his assistants, Urahara with Yoruichi tagging along, Mayuri with his daughter Nemu who carried most of his tools for him. Aizen, Grimmjow, Nnoitra along with Harribel came along with the Kurosaki duo, Ishida junior came along as medical team. They entered the temple and were surprised when all the large temple was, was one large room.

There was a small moat alone the edges of the room apart from the entryway. The bricks where all a green yellow shade, there was no trace of mould oddly enough surprising Szayel.

Going around the room was a moat, there was a bridge they walked over to get to the middle of the room. The moat flowed in a tunnel to a square like pool in the middle of the room. Looking up they saw that there was no roof allowing natural light to shine in.

Ichigo moved to the side. The moat was closed off by a railing of the same colour cement like texture as the bricks. Looking down he saw that it wasn't water like he thought it was, the moat was filled with unmoving black liquid.

He got a bad feeling from it and asked Szayel for a flask. The man happily gave him a flash and metal clamp so he didn't have to actually hold the bottle and his hands were a safe distance away from the unknown liquid.

The bubblegum pink haired man joined him at the barrier. However the most disturbing thin happened when the flask hit the surface. It dissolved as if the black liquid was an acid. Ichigo released the clamp seeing the acid like water eat up the flask and metal of the clamp at an astonishing rate.

"Okay warning don't even think about touching the black stuff, it will eat you alive." Szayel warned and Ichigo walked away to stand next to Urahara who was looking at the smaller pool of blackness that was in the middle of the room. Once he was beside the man he saw what he saw.

It was a statue. Or rather the remnants of one, the face of the statue was smooth and featureless. The figure was wearing a cloak and had a hand held up straight in the air as a puppeteer would as he controlled his puppets.

"That's kinda creepy." Ichigo commented. Urahara nodded. "This isn't a temple as far as I can gather but… honesty I don't know what this is. A temple is made to be worshipped so where's the town? There is no altar besides this statue. Nothing here makes sense." The frustration in Urahara's voice was easily detectable. They all speared out with flashlights to look at the walls for any sign or clue of what this building could be.

Uryuu took this was his chance to talk to Ichigo. He made his way over and lightly tapped Ichigo on his shoulder. Ichigo looked over and saw that the man was clearly annoyed with something, most likely his attitude towards the woman.

"What?" Ichigo said annoyed looking back at where his flashlight was pointing. He squinted his eyes swearing to himself that he saw something. He lowered his hand on the railing but hissed and pulled his hand back when a sharp pain flared up his hand to his arm.

Holding up his hand both he and the raven haired man beside him went wide eyed. There was a nasty slash along his hand from seemingly nowhere. Both men looked down at the counter seeing nothing but smooth cement.

Without knowing it Ichigo held his hand out far enough so most of the blood fell into the black mass making light sizzling noises.

Feeling dizzy Ichigo shook his head to try and clear it. Uryuu didn't seem to notice Ichigo's lack of focus. Uryuu grabbed Ichigo by his shoulder twirling him around to face him. Ichigo had to fight to keep his balance. Gritting his teeth Ichigo growled out. This scene gained everyone's attention.

"Why are you being rude to Orihime?" he near barked at Ichigo.

Ichigo groaned and rubbed his dizzy head. "Fuck off Uryuu you should be fucking thanking me. You like her don't you so just let me be a rude ass and she'll come running towards you." Ichigo hisses out. Uryuu clearly didn't seem to like the way he was talking about Orihime as some kind of tramp as only he heard it. He didn't even know he was over touchy when it came to Orihime.

Uryuu gritted his teeth and roughly shoved Ichigo against the railing. Nobody noticed the railing cracked.

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Uryuu roared and shoved Ichigo again. The lack of sleep and food greatly weakening Ichigo into losing his balance along with the barrier behind him giving in as well, with a terrified scream Ichigo fell backwards.

Isshin and the rest watch in horror as Ichigo fell almost in slow motion.

The moment Ichigo's body met the black mass he was swallowed up by it leaving the echoes of his terrified scream ringing in everyone's ears.

* * *

 **Heh…**

 **Um…**

 **I can explain…**

 **In the next chapter!**


	3. Coiling strings

**Thank you for the reviews and follows as well as favourites. Means a lot!**

 **And I got accepted into the collage I was aiming for! XD**

* * *

 **Chapter: Coiling strings**

 ** _"_** ** _Breathe."_**

Ichigo didn't know what the damn voice in the darkness was thinking but he still tried to hold his breath as it was the human way when falling into any sort of liquid.

 ** _"_** ** _Breathe Ichigo."_**

Again the voice said in a calm manner, as if trying to calm Ichigo's frantic movements. The feeling of hands, multiple hands moving around his body made him jerk and shiver all the more frantic to get away. One hand each went to his hands grabbing them and pulling them away from his mouth he was so desperately trying to keep close.

Another hand moved for his throat. It didn't squeeze but the hand straightened his neck out making it easier to breathe if he were to. One final hand finally closed his nose. The panic finally consumed Ichigo and he opened his mouth to scream but the moment his mouth opened the black liquid he fell in rushed in.

It burned as it went down his throat, he could feel it burning its way into his lungs and stomach. Soon Ichigo passed out cold due to the burning sensation reaching his nerve system and a different kind of darkness consumed him whole.

* * *

Out back in the temple no one could move. Ichigo's shout died down and the air was deathly still. Nnoitra was oddly first to move. He walked or rather stalked over to the other raven haired man and heaved him up only to throw him an alarming distance.

"You fuck…" Nnoitra was cut off when the black liquid started to sizzle loudly as if it was burning. They all turned to watch the black mass moved in a sluggish way. It was almost as if it was getting less.

Or coming together as they watched the black liquid come together at the middle pool, it climbed the statue covering it with its dark sludge like state. They all watched as the seemingly creepy statue form into black smog.

Said smog drifted to the ground before them. With a sudden thud Ichigo appeared before them out like a light. Isshin not caring anymore ran to his son seeing that he was no longer wearing his clothes he wore his morning but a similar cloak as the statue once wore. Rolling Ichigo onto his back and lap he gasped when he saw that his son's hair had grown to hip length. He gently lifted his son into his arms to get him out of the god forsaken temple.

Once they were into the light of the sky Isshin carried his son's limp body to the medical team where Chad, Orihime and Ishida senior were. They were all shocked when Ichigo's slack face appeared. Szayel joined in asking if he could take a blood sample to see if he could check Ichigo's blood for any abnormalities. Isshin gave a curt nod. However they both froze along with the entire following team and medical team when the silver haired male lifted Ichigo's hand.

Once slightly tanned skin was pitch black. Long finger nails about an inch were now where trimmed normal peach pink nails were. Swallowing bile that wanted to rise from his throat Isshin continued to check his son's vitals.

To his amazement Ichigo's heartbeat was fine, his blood pressure, breathing and even the dilation of his pupils were all perfectly fine. Szayel safely pulled a vial of blood that looked the correct shade of red and even consistency. Ichigo appeared perfectly fine.

Urahara watched unsure how to react. The moment Ichigo fell his heart nearly dropped to his stomach. When he vanished his eyes started to water. When the red head appeared suddenly his heart leapt for joy.

Now he was worried. Ichigo wasn't the same. First his hair had grown considerably.

And his arms seemed to be black with long nails no human could possibly have. Isshin deciding his son was fine for now looked up at Urahara. "What now?" he asked looking at the man. Said man looked at the temple.

The startled gasp of the medical team drew all eyes towards Ichigo whose eyes were open but not the eyes they all knew. Gold on black eyes stared at the temple before a black hand rose. With no warning the hand clenched in a fist, the next seconds the temple tumbled into itself imploding with no help from any outside help.

When eyes returned to the red head they found him unmoving yet again with closed eyes looking as if he was just taking a nap. "Well… the temple is ruined… I say we return." Urahara said with only Ichigo's safety in mind. The temple was in ruins now so it was pointless in staying.

With a deathly silence they all packed up as Isshin carried his son to the medical bay with a stern face. A face of someone trying hard not to explode with rage, a rage that was aimed at his co-worker's son… for a good reason; said co-worker was being informed by Urahara of the whole ordeal.

The man wasn't amused.

Packing up was easily done and dusted, with that everyone was on the ship and the ship set into motion. The ship's captain was informed of the situation and was rather wary of allowing Ichigo on board without knowing what was happening to the man.

The entire ship was silent. No one spoke. Isshin was fretting over his son the entire time with Szayel at his side working the machines he brought along doing blood tests on the vial.

Five hours into the trip back the machine beeped.

Both men looked over the results flabbergasted when the results showed that nothing was wrong with Ichigo's blood. Well he was a little low on iron but other than that he was perfectly healthy. Isshin sighed and said he was going to the bathroom.

Szayel nodded to the man having much sympathy for said man. He looked down at the seemingly sleeping Ichigo. He lifted one of the black hands to inspect it. Looking at the nails he noticed that there was a small hole at the sharp point. Looking under the nail he saw something that looked like a small sac underneath the base of the nail going into the finger. This was very interesting.

Taking a cotton swab he gently pushed on the sac and watched in morbid curiosity as a small bead of black liquid emerge from the hole in a thicker state than what it was when in the pool in the temple. Blindly grasping a handful of vials sending most to the ground he grasped one firmly and held it underneath the bead of black sticky liquid watching with fascination as the bead dropped but a thin nearly invisible string remained attached to the point of the nail for a few seconds before breaking.

That was when Isshin came in, he wanted to be mad and accuse the man of whatever came first to his mind but once he saw the vial with black liquid inside he remained silent in hopes that the man would have discovered something. The bubblegum pink haired man looked up and motioned Isshin closer.

"Come and look at this." The man said holding Ichigo's hand out for him to see. Isshin looked closely and saw the small holes in each of the five pointed nails. It was peculiar; in a sense Ichigo's nails resembled a snake's fang.

The sacs behind the nails near the beginning of the fingers going underneath the nails were like the sacs of venom a snake would have. "Do you think it's poisonous?" Isshin asked as he watched how the pink haired male pressed down on the sac of a different finger to get a little more of the sticky black substance.

Szayel looked perplexed.

"Maybe I don't know. We will just have to test it." Szayel worked quickly as he used a clean swab and got it full of the black mess and placed it into a new tube before going on to the steps of processing. There was a knock on the doorframe. Both men saw the other two scientists looking in and waiting for a sign they could come in. Isshin nodded.

They both walked closer with different looks plastered onto their faces.

Mayuri looked at Ichigo liked an experiment he really wanted to test while Urahara looked worried. "How is he?" the blonde man asked not taking his eyes off Ichigo's peaceful face.

"He's heartbeat is sound, his pupils dilate perfectly when in contact with light, his blood pressure is good and his blood came back as clean." The man said holding his son's hand that was pleasantly warm. Mayuri looked a little deflated but didn't comment in fear of evoking Isshin's ire.

Kisuke looked relieved.

"So he's just sleeping?" He asked looking over to Isshin who just nodded.

"We'll keep him on a drip to keep him hydrated and so forth and also to keep him asleep till morning." Isshin said nodding to the sickbay doctor who promised to keep an eye on Ichigo. All the men walked out and into the mess hall for dinner.

Grimmjow and the rest looked up with worry in their eyes. Ishida was to the one side alone, Orihime was a little distance away so he didn't feel all too alone but the woman was still unsure how to go about the situation. No one would tell her why the two fought.

Isshin gave a small smile. "He's fine as far as we can tell." That relaxed them all but a sense of fear still lingered over them as they forced themselves to eat.

* * *

 ** _"_** ** _Ichigo… wake up… WAKE UP!"_** Ichigo's eyes snapped wide open. He was looking at the ceiling of metal and bolts. Looking around he saw the sickbay doctor out like a light snoring away. No one else was in the room, thankfully as Ichigo didn't want to talk at the moment.

Shifting a bit he felt the small stab of pain in his arm, looking down he saw he had a drip inserted into his left arm, his arm being as dark as the night. With shaking eyes and wide eyes Ichigo gently took out the drip as best he could.

With a little bit of effort Ichigo got into a seated position. He was now looking down at his black hands that had claws.

 ** _"_** ** _Impressive aren't they?"_** Ichigo's head slowly looked up at the voice he heard while he was in the black mass of liquid. What he didn't expect was to see a white version of his face looking back at him with a smirk. His mouth fell opened before he stared to move frantically. This wiped the smirk off the white doppelganger's face.

 ** _"_** ** _Now now no need for that, I'm not here to hurt you. In fact I saved you."_** That made Ichigo calm down enough to just sit in the corner of the bed near falling off. The white being was dressed in a white cloak as he was. Ichigo suddenly squinted his eyes at the man.

This wasn't what the white figure expected.

The red head went from dazed, scared to suspicious.

"What are you?" Ichigo asked not letting the suspicion lift from his face. The white man sighed and rubbed his neck.

 ** _"_** ** _That statue you called… what was it? Creepy? That was me by the way."_** Ichigo's eyes went wide. He stared at the smirking white being that had his face for a full minute without making a peep or even moving. Hell it didn't even look like he was breathing.

"How-What… ah this can't be true… how can a statue come to life?" Ichigo asked in a harsh whisper. The white being sighed and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed looking everywhere but at Ichigo who was watching him with hawk eyes.

 ** _"_** ** _First off I am not a god. I am a deity of sorts I guess."_** The man looked back at Ichigo with a serious face. **_"I had worshipers but the island was hit with an earthquake making most of it sink into the ocean. After that with no one to serve I slipped back into my temple and collapsed the entrance thinking that no one would find the small island._**

 ** _Unknowingly I still let my power seep through and that power drew all living things close. Once your ship got close enough however I sensed someone strong. Someone with a body and soul strong enough to survive merging with me and not dying along the way. Now guess how shocked I was when said someone was pushed into my essence._**

 ** _I took the chance and saved you from dissolving into the essence. I infused myself within you. I never had a face before. So I took yours."_** The man smirked.

 ** _"_** ** _Now I live inside you so to speak. You have gained my powers. They will stay as will I till the day you die then I will be freed but I am in no hurry so don't worry I won't kill you. I am curious to see how you will use what I have granted you."_** The man's smirk grew.

"What… powers?" Ichigo asked softly looking at his hands then back up at his look alike.

The white haired being fully got on the bunk and crawled closer. Once he was close enough he mounted the red head's thighs. He lifted one of the black hands and held it out before pressing his own hand against Ichigo's, both men had long nails.

 ** _"_** ** _On the island they all called me the Puppet master. I have the power to control anyone who gets injected with this…"_** The white haired man gently pushed a small sac underneath Ichigo's index finger making it release the black substance. Ichigo watched with horror as the black liquid made a bead before lowering and hanging on what seemed like a string made out of the black stuff.

"How…" Ichigo looked up utterly confused and lost. This made the man give a somewhat sympathetic smile. **_"Don't worry I will help you along the way. For now all you need to do is sleep and rest. Oh and don't worry about actually saying what you want to say to me out loud I can hear your inner thoughts. Also only you can see me."_** The man said and gently pushed Ichigo down to lie down wiping off the small bead of black from his finger.

Ichigo looked into the gold and black eyes. "What's your name?"

 ** _"_** ** _My name?"_** The being asked not believing what he was being asked, he was never once before asked for his name. Ichigo nodded and looked him in the eyes. "Yeah I am not going to call you puppet master." Ichigo huffed and got a more comfy spot.

A frown came on the man's face making them look more identical.

 ** _"_** ** _I don't have one."_** The being looked to Ichigo who was now looking at him in thought. "Well seeing as you look like me… why don't we call you Hichigo?" Ichigo suggested watching the odd eyes go wide. Then a wide grin nearly tore the white face in two. In that moment Ichigo promised himself that he would never smile that big. He didn't even think he could.

* * *

The next morning Isshin and the rest of the lead groups came to check on Ichigo. They found him on his side sleeping soundly drip nowhere near his arm showing that Ichigo had somehow woke up in the middle of the night.

It was amazing because they gave the man a strong sensate. Isshin walked to his son's side and gently ran his fingers through the long orange strands. The stroking must have been enough because long dark lashes fluttered before opening showing clear brown eyes. Said hues moved to his father to see who was touching him. Seeing that it was his father Ichigo gave a small smile before slowly getting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bunk.

Before anything could be said Ichigo's stomach gave a very, very loud growl. Ichigo blinked owlishly before bursting out laughing, he laughed so much he fell backwards on the bunk bumping his head against the wall. He groaned still chuckling softly.

This made the five men and sickbay doctor relax. If Ichigo was well enough to laugh like that he must be fine.

Ichigo rubbed his head while getting up and off the bunk. He wobbled a little when he was hit with a dizzy spell. His father helped him regain his footing before Ichigo was out the door quicker than they could keep up with.

"Well… he seems… perfectly fine." Aizen said with an arched brow still looking out the door. The five men decided to go and have breakfast as well as keep an eye on Ichigo. They were surprised when they stepped out so see Ichigo waiting for them.

"I forgot to say good morning." Ichigo said with a sheepish smile before his frown was back on his face. Inside Ichigo's head he was unsure as to where that sudden behaviour came from. He heard a snicker inside his head. **_"Sorry that was my influence. It will happen a few times more before we settle fully."_** Ichigo groan and slouched his shoulder turning around to head to the mess hall.

The five men followed after Ichigo still somewhat worried.

Silence greeted Ichigo when he stepped into the mess hall. Grimmjow was openly gawking along with Nnoitra, Stark looked more awake than Ichigo had ever seen him. Harribel and Ulquiorra had wide eyes for the first time ever.

Chad had rose to his feet and was watching Ichigo in case he needed help. Ichigo looked around before bringing a hand to scratch his short hair only to find that his 'short hair' was now long orange locks. He looked down at his hand that was grasping a long piece of hair with wide eyes.

"The fuck?" Ichigo nearly screamed before the voice in the mind told him. **_"Calm down will you? This was because of us merging. Though I would keep it if I were you. It suits you."_** Hichigo said and Ichigo knew that the man was smirking.

 _"_ _I'll decide when I see it for myself."_ Ichigo mumbled in his head.

Calming down he looked around once more only to be surrounded by concerned faces. They all talked at once making Ichigo's head spin. The constant sounds and tugs made him slightly panicked, without knowing it Ichigo tapped into his new powers with the only thoughts to get away. With his panicked thoughts suddenly came a weightless feeling before it felt like he was pushed through the air before he felt the ground with his face.

There was a chorus of gasps.

No one knew what the hell just happened but one moment Ichigo was in the middle of the human circle before he morphed into black smoke and floated over their heads and only for Ichigo to reappeared on the ground gasping and withering on the floor as if electrocuted.

 ** _"_** ** _Calm down Ichigo just breathe."_** Hichigo gently stroked Ichigo's forehead as the man looked at him sightlessly.

Hichigo was honestly impressed but worried at the same time. He never expected Ichigo to be able to shift so quickly, it seemed that it was instincts for the red head which was good yet bad as emotions played a part in it too.

Isshin was at his son's side in an instant. Hichigo watched as the man gently patter Ichigo's cheek before giving a more forceful one. That seemed to work as Ichigo blinked a few times before clear brown eyes looked up into his father's own darker brown hues.

Still breathing a little raspy Ichigo was helped up. His stomach made summersaults in his body when he remembered the odd feeling and suddenly being a few feet away in a blink of an eye. His father led him to sit down at one table while Urahara got Ichigo and Isshin a tray of food before quickly getting one for himself. They all sat in silence as Ichigo tried to get his bearings.

 _"_ _What the hell was that?"_ Ichigo asked feeling his body still trying to figure out what happened to it in those few seconds. He could feel the man inside him fidget. **_"As you probably figured, that is one of my abilities you gained. It's called shifting. You basically dissolve and move to where you want to and then just solidify again when you are where you want to be."_** Ichigo nodded numbly as he ate his food he could hardly taste.

Once his fork made a clang on the metal tray was when Ichigo looked down to see an empty tray. This made most snicker or giggle.

He looked up to see Urahara looking at him with eyes filled with worry and oddly enough guilt. He like the blonde and didn't want to see the man with that look on his face. He gave a smirk.

"What?" he asked his voice had no anger, malice or accusation in it. Only pure curiosity.

"Are you alright?" he asked worry clearly showing in his voice. Ichigo's smirk softened. "I feel better now… after that…" Ichigo said frowning. Urahara was about to speak but Grimmjow butter in. "What was that anyway?" he asked looking pointedly at the red head showing he wasn't going to get out of it. Signing Ichigo pushed the tray away so he could rest his arms on the table where his chin rested.

"I don't know myself, you all just started to talk too much and at the same time that I panicked and it… just… happened." Ichigo made a motion with his hand to show how it was just a 'swish and it happened' movement. Urahara looked curious but didn't press for more.

After breakfast Ichigo took to walking. He walked everywhere he was allowed to, soon he stood in front of the doorway to the blonde's room. Said blonde was busy scribbling away on something. Ichigo tapped lightly on the door making the blonde look up.

The moment their eyes met his heartbeat accelerated. Ichigo could feel Hichigo stir at the suddenness of the faster beat.

 ** _"_** ** _Oh? Seems Ichigo has a crush."_** The man cooed at Ichigo in a teasing manner. **_"Heh at least you have taste."_** The comment brought a slight flush to his cheeks. "Um… can I come in?" Ichigo asked unsure if the man would allow it now that he wasn't all human.

Intrigued by the adorable blush Urahara smiled at Ichigo. "Of course you can come in." the tone was warm and affectionate. It allowed Ichigo to relax his stiff shoulders. He walked over to the blonde's desk and made sure there was an open spot for him to sit down.

 _"_ _Hey Hichigo can I tell Urahara what you told me about the island? I mean… he was so excited about finding it…"_ Ichigo could sense Hichigo was smirking at him knowing well that Ichigo liked the blonde man looking at him,

 ** _"_** ** _Sure tell him everything. He doesn't look like he would betray you. He looks like he'd rather hug you amongst other things."_** Hichigo joked getting Ichigo to blush more deeply.

The now rosy cheeked Ichigo was looking around not knowing what to make of his new companion's remark. Taking a deep breath Ichigo looked to Urahara. "There is… more to that island than what you all saw." Ichigo started off slowly.

This had Urahara's attention. He held up a finger telling Ichigo to wait. The man rose and walked to the door. He locked it insuring that no one would hear. Ichigo gave him a grateful smile, taking another breath Ichigo lifted his hands allowing his hands to be shown. Long black nails arched slightly inwards.

"This, all this." Ichigo said wiggling his fingers before tugging a lock of hair.

"When I fell into the water… I thought I was a goner I mean I saw what it did to a piece of glass and metal. So imagine my surprise and utter shock when I didn't dissolve. I couldn't see shit but I felt these hands trying to get me to release my hold over my mouth. They succeeded and well after that it was all lights out for me so I don't know how I got back out." Ichigo said lightly scratching his head with a lone finger, he was careful of the nail even though Hichigo told him his nails could never harm his own skin.

"When I woke up I was in the sickbay looking up at the ceiling." Ichigo glanced at Urahara to see the man was looking at him like a child to a parent telling a bedtime story that was getting to the good part.

"I heard a voice as I woke. When I looked around I saw… well this might sound like bullshit but I saw myself only all white." Ichigo said and rubbed his face. "He then told me that he was the entity of the island. That the island wasn't always the shape it was. That the island was rather normally shaped, an earthquake made most of it sink. After he lost his worshippers he sealed himself into the temple." Ichigo kept the part where the white doppelganger sensed him to himself for now and well when I fell into the water that was actually his very essence he decided to hitch a ride." Ichigo poked his head a few times. "Wait." Urahara interrupted for the first time. "The entity is inside you?" He asked horrified at the idea. Ichigo gave him a gentle smile that made the man melt a little and also got a snicker out of Hichigo.

"He's a different one… he seems nice enough but I guess we'll have to see eh?" Ichigo shrugged a shoulder.

Another breath in and out made Ichigo continue. "I also gained his powers." Ichigo said and watched Urahara stiffen. He rose and gripped Ichigo hands with such gentleness that it caught Ichigo off guard. "Powers? Why on earth are you taking this so easily?" He asked a little loudly but the worry was evident in his face. Ichigo looked into Urahara's eyes with a serious look, his frown deeper than normal.

"Because what can I do to change it? If I said anything like this to Mayuri or a normal doctor I'd be sent off to a mental institution or worse experimented on." Ichigo said rubbing his forehead on Urahara's shoulder as said man still had his hands in a soft grip.

"Heh I wouldn't be surprised if the man tried to examine me or test on me." Ichigo's whole body slumped into the taller man's.

Urahara gulped his grip on Ichigo's hands tightening slightly before slacking.

"So powers?" he asked looking down at Ichigo's orange hair that was long much longer yet stayed spiky at the top, the tips were only now longer drooping slightly.

"Mmmm yeah that thing I did this morning was one of them." Ichigo said getting rather sleepy all of the sudden. When he realised how close he was to the man his heartbeat skyrocketed and he jolted violently while stepping back. This was such a surprise to Urahara that he stumbled forward as he didn't release Ichigo's hands. The two tripped over one another sending them both to the floor.

Both men blinked before the realised in what a compromising position they were in. Before they could move Hichigo pushed his influence onto Ichigo making him act like him for a few seconds. Those few seconds were enough for Ichigo's head to rise and their lips to collide.

There was a moment of utter silence as the world around them just seemed to fade away. Ichigo's soft lips were all Urahara could think of at that moment. Ichigo was mentally panicking and thinking up excuses for what he just did till he felt Urahara return pressure, a low groan left Ichigo at that point.

A shudder ran along Urahara's spine at the noise. He knew that they should stop that there was more important things to be held in regard but Ichigo was distracting him so perfectly. Once breath became an issue they slowly drifted apart. Ichigo was blushing brightly while frowning slightly.

"You should really stop that adorable face Ichigo." Urahara said softly running a finger over Ichigo's cheekbone. "I am not adorable." Ichigo grumbled softly while slightly leaning into the touch. This made Urahara's hope of maybe gaining the red head's affection rise. Well he just got kissed by the man…

"Well you are adorable to me Ichigo." Urahara said before gently getting off the red head where after he lends the man a hand to get him back on his feet. Ichigo grumbled under his breath looking away. The look just made the blonde want to hug the red head.

And so he did.

Ichigo stiffened at first before melting and returning the embrace.

Hichigo watched proudly nodding his head. He glanced over to the porthole of the door, Isshin was looking in. The white figure guessed he was looking for Ichigo and saw this now his reaction was pleasing to the white head.

The man looked on with a small smirk. It seemed that most on the ship have seen this coming. Now a shocked face would have been more entertaining but oh well.

Isshin nodded once to himself and walked away. Happy with how things turned out Hichigo returned back onto the red head's mind. Ichigo was feeling safe for some odd reason, it didn't make much sense to Ichigo but when he thought about what just happened to him sense was of a little importance. Besides he was attracted to Kisuke and it looked like it was mutual.

So why not see where it leads?

But the near future had obstacles that neither men nor supernatural could foresee.

* * *

 **Right before you all go Rambo on my ass, Hichigo's speech will change to what it is supposed to be. Hat and fan will be included in the near future.**

 **I hope this didn't suck!**


	4. Tightening strings

**Thank you for all the support!**

 **Means a lot.**

 **As for the reviews you guys are so sweet!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Tightening strings**

Something wasn't right. They all knew it.

The whole of the mess hall was staring at Ichigo in shock while Ichigo himself looked at his one hand in awe and horror. It started out like a normal breakfast on the last full day on the ship. Ichigo still for some reason wearing the cloak, he said it was comfortable.

Ichigo had his tray of food in hand while speaking to Urahara about something. Ichigo didn't look where he was going and stubbed his toe on a metal ridge tripping slightly. He was close enough so his tray clanged heavily on the table.

But what shocked them all was that the empty hand reached out to grasp the table edge.

Only fingernails reached but instead of getting a grip the nails sliced through the metal table as if they were hot knifes to butter. Four perfectly straight lines stood on the pale metal. Ichigo's thumbnail just making a small grove. The scary part was that Ichigo didn't even try.

The whole room was silent as Ichigo was still looking at the claws that did the damage. Hichigo was at his side. **_"You see, this is something I forgot to tell you… your claws can basically cut through anything besides diamonds."_** The gold on black eyes shifted from black nails to wide brown eyes that were slowly coming back to reality.

"Well… this would have helped a few years ago." Ichigo joked making Isshin laugh as he was the only one who knew what Ichigo was talking about. Kisuke helped Ichigo up and the two shared a smile that everyone caught.

Even the ever ditsy Orihime.

Grimmjow and Nnoitra started to crack jokes about all the things Ichigo could do once he explained to them about how they could cut nearly everything. When asked how he knew this Ichigo just shrugged and said he just knew. Isshin who was filled in the same night after Ichigo bade the blonde good night. Chad was in the room as well so he too knew.

Everything was peaceful however Ichigo kept feeling that he was being watched. It unnerved him greatly.

Sitting now between the people he now called friends his future popped up. Ichigo's happy demeanour vanished into thin air. They all noticed this and asked what was wrong; Ichigo shrugged and placed his elbows onto the table with his hands up in the air palms facing the opposite side.

"What doctor can perform with these? I might as well give up on that little dream." Ichigo said sounding for once defeated. He didn't mind these powers but it sucked that his dream of becoming an ER doctor was basically history.

While Ichigo was examining his nails for the hundredth time he didn't notice deathly glares thrown towards Ishida junior.

Ichigo sighed before shrugging lowering his hands onto the table folding them at the wrists. He lifted a finger and stabbed a small piece of meat he wasn't planning on eating for the fun of it. Hichigo also told him to do this so he could get use to not injecting his venom as they both came to dub it.

He had asked the sickbay doctor for a stress ball or something similar. Luck as it would have it the man had one but it was a personal one. Ichigo wasn't about to ask the man for his own ball but the man smiled and happily gave it to Ichigo claiming Ichigo needed it more than he did.

And thus Ichigo became addicted to stabbing the ball with his nails till his control over the sacs of venom was on a pro level according to Hichigo. Now it was more of a habit.

An odd one if the looks he was gaining said anything.

One thing Ichigo knew was that he would have to move. He could no longer work where he worked at a restaurant. His nails would get him into trouble. Ichigo started to worry his lip thinking about what he was to do. All he could think was going back home.

He didn't have to worry about his father's insane attacks anymore after his car accident… his shoulder… now that he thought about it… his shoulder didn't bother him anymore. Rising Ichigo mumbled he was going to take a shower. In his daze he missed the worried looks shot his way.

Ichigo ambled his way to his room; he grabbed his shower necessities and a new bundle of clothes. He walked to the bathroom with his head somewhat bowed. He wasn't ashamed of what he was now… his life was filled with bullies and taunts that he had developed a thick skin but he knew it would be near impossible to live his previous day-to-day life.

He entered the cold room of the men's showers. He walked till he was at the last one and dumped his shower stuff in the cubical; he looked down at the cloak and pulled it a few times gently. With a hard yank it just… slipped off.

Now standing naked in the cold air Ichigo looked at the black skin, he followed it from where it started by his hands till it reached the third of his bicep being line like with his armpit.

His arm lifted till his hand moved over the area where his surgical scar sat but he felt nothing but smooth skin. Looking down Ichigo noticed there was no silvery scar to remind him of that day. _"Hey Hichigo… did our merging having something to do with my old injury vanishing?"_ Ichigo asked as he stepped into the shower having long since mastered talking to Hichigo without actually talking. Hichigo materialised before him taking in the shower. Ichigo hasn't yet shown the white haired man the new age bathing methods.

 ** _"_** ** _Yes that was me as well. Can't have you walking around with a weak shoulder."_** Hichigo watched as Ichigo turned the two metal dials and water came rushing out splashing the red head with cold water. Hichigo frowned not understanding why someone would want to bathe in cold water. He was about to voice this when he saw the water create steam as it rose in temperature.

Ichigo then squatted and grabbed his washcloth and body wash. He squirted a dollop of the musky smelling goo. It was a deep green smell that had a musky male scent with the added pure smell of what would be a forest of some sort. **_"What's that?"_** Hichigo was pointing at the plastic bottle in his hand. Ichigo looked at the bottle.

"It's called body wash. In short it is liquid soap. I don't like soap bars. This is a washcloth, helps cleaning and so forth and this whole room is filled with showers. They're like a bath only the water comes from above like rain." Ichigo explained as he lathered himself up and started to wash his body.

When he reached his arms he shuddered when the cloth ran over the black skin. It was so sensitive there now. He heard Hichigo snicker but it was mostly ignored as Ichigo stood under the spray. The water ran down his body, the droplets ran drown the hard chest before they swivelled side to side as well formed abs blocked any smooth way down.

After all the subs where washed away Ichigo moved to the next part. Washing his newly acquired length of hair, lifting the bottle of shampoo Ichigo knew his bottles would not last him as long as they have until now with the new addition. He had yet to see himself in the mirror as he avoided the reflective surface like a plague.

Ichigo squirted a larger amount of the pleasantly smelling white goo. Hichigo was staring at is with great interest. Ignoring the white being for now Ichigo quickly began lathering up the shampoo before washing the top part of his hair. Being careful not to get his hair too tangled he worked his way down so all of the hairs had been washed before standing under the spray again.

Once all the shampoo was off he used the conditioner. He already decided that he would buy a bigger bottle of conditioner seeing as his hair would need it. Soothing out the white mixture over the end tails of his hair that needed conditioner more he idly thought about what he would do after he finished his shower.

Ichigo shuffled though his bag and got his toothbrush and toothpaste. He went on explaining to Hichigo what he was going to do. He brushed his teeth in the shower waiting for his hair to absorb the nutrients of the conditioner. Once he brushed his teeth of the required two minutes he spat out the white bubbly mess into the drain. He finished his shower and stepped out of the cubical into t the cold air. Shivering slightly Ichigo quickly rubbed his body dry. He got his pants and shoes, somewhat glad his feet stayed the same; when the door opened revealing the joyous sounds of Nnoitra teasing Grimmjow while the rest of the Espada men smiled or laughed softly. They all froze when they saw Ichigo standing in the far end of the room. Ichigo had his back towards them showing off long lean muscles that stretched and twitched as the red head rubbed his hair dry.

Raising his lowered head to shake his hair into a better state Ichigo threw the towel onto the bench. This straight stance allowed them all to see that the black skin only travelled the length of his arms before it reached his shoulders.

The red head reached for his long sleeved shirt. He pulled it over his head and pulled out his hair from underneath as well. He picked up the towel again and roughly dried his hair till it was only slightly wet. Ichigo turned and stopped when he saw he had an audience. He raised an eyebrow seeing the shocked faces.

"What?"

That broke the group out of their trance. They all shook their heads and made it into the shower each choosing a cubical for themselves. Ichigo shrugged and threw the towel into the laundry bin. After that he searched his bag for his brush. His hair was never this long yes but it was still long enough to be brushed, so with luck he had a brush to brush the long orange strands out getting all knots out in the process.

Once he was happy with the state of his hair he rose and gathered all his things. Looking down at himself Ichigo decided that there was little else he could do to hide his hands. Not even gloves would work as his nails stood out an inch. Sighing Ichigo scratched his head as he towed his toiletries' bag over his shoulder with the black cloth he was covering before out of the room with a lost in thought look etched onto his face.

Once the door banged close and the red head was out of earshot did they speak.

"Man… I thought Ichigo couldn't exercise." Grimmjow mumbled still having the picture of Ichigo's well defined back and arm muscles in his head. Nnoitra grunted form the next cubical.

Aizen silently agreed while he washed his body. Ichigo's physic was rather… impressive for someone who didn't do extensive exercises.

Ichigo reached his shared room and saw it was bare of the other two occupants. He closed the door and slunk to the full length mirror that was bolted to the one side of the room. Standing in front of the mirror Ichigo looked at himself. His hair had dried to near completion but was still a little clammy.

He had to admit it did in fact suit him rather well. He lifted his shirt and nearly yelped. He stared at his reflection unable to believe what he was seeing. Before his accident Ichigo had a well toned body and was damn proud of it. He lost most of his muscle mass when he lost his ability to use his arm in high strain activities. However the body that was reflected back to him wasn't the body he was use to know.

Oh no. This was what his body would have looked like had he not been in the accident. Ichigo gently touched the more visible abs, he couldn't believe it. He heard the door open and glanced to see his father giving him a strange look before he thought that something must have been wrong and rushed to his son's side.

His words died in his throat when he saw his son's torso. He knew what his son looked like underneath his clothes and what he was seeing now was not what was underneath the cloth before the temple.

"This is mindboggling isn't it?" Ichigo asked softly lifting the shirt fully over his head allowing his father to see the lack of scar. Isshin came closer to inspect the skin covering his son's shoulder. It was smooth and scar free. There were no hints of any sort of damage that he could see with his eye.

"I think this has something to do with this." Ichigo said wiggling his fingers. Hichigo hummed approvingly from inside his head.

 ** _"_** ** _When you were in my essence I could sense your entire body where there was damage before and such. You only had that and a few weak ribs. I didn't want to be inside a frail body though you are far from it, I just wanted you to have a body strong enough to deal with the pain of the merging."_** Hichigo explained where he sat on the bed.

Ichigo allowed his father to examine a bit more before he pulled his shirt over his head again. "I'm going to a walk." Ichigo said smirking to his father when he tried to object. Isshin watched his son leave the room. He felt so perplexed.

Nothing about what happened to his son made any sort of sense to him.

Sighing he made his way to Urahara's room, he had to chat to the man about some things.

* * *

Ichigo was on the deck of the ship watching the waters flow by. They were now close enough to see the small blue shadow of the mainland.

Soon he will have to decide what he will do with his life as being a doctor is out of the question.

Down below deck Isshin finally made it to the blonde man's room. Urahara was standing at the porthole looking out at the endless blue. Isshin cleared his throat and thus gained the blonde's attention. Kisuke straightened up when he saw the father of the man he had affections for.

The whole scene was rather amusing to both men, it looked like Isshin was about to give Urahara 'the talk' about not hurting his son. He knew he should but Ichigo was a big boy now. He just wanted to make sure Urahara's intentions aren't foul.

Ichigo had enough heartache in his life.

The blonde looked Isshin straight in the eye. There was no point in being nervous; he was twenty six not sixteen. Isshin liked the stance the blonde was in; it was neither cocky nor timid.

"Yes Isshin?" Kisuke asked politely with a smile.

Isshin huffed and looked down at the desk. "I just wanted to talk to you, I think we both know about what." He noticed that the blonde did tense somewhat but he figured it was more out of worry that he would order the man to stay away from his son.

Deep brown looked into stormy grey.

"I have seen the looks you have given each other, all I want to know is what is your intensions?" Isshin asked keeping the blonde's eyes. Urahara visibly relaxed.

"Ah, I see that's what you want to know." He said watching as Isshin nodded his head with a stern look still plastered onto his face. Urahara sighed and sat down on his chair. "My intentions are to learn more about Ichigo, to find out more about the person I find interesting even before he hell into the pool. I want to… I want to date your son." Urahara said looking straight ahead, once he finished he looked over to see Isshin nodding his head in thought.

"Alright. You have my blessing but I do wonder what Ichigo would do now." Isshin looked poignant. Ah yes that was a big issue that they all wished to help in.

"Well being a doctor is well out of the question sadly. With those hands most jobs are impossible however…" Urahara stopped as he thought about his idea and how well it could work. Isshin was intrigued now and watching the blonde as he searched through some papers.

Urahara sighed and rubbed his head messing up his hair. "All jobs that I can see Ichigo having and enjoying would be something with a physical attribute as well as a little mentally challenging if he wanted to become an ER doctor is anything to go by." Isshin thought about this and nodded.

"Well Ichigo could always join my exploration team as the medical personnel." The blonde spoke slowly and unsurely as he didn't know how Isshin would take the idea. Isshin was thinking hard about the proposal.

It wasn't all that bad, Ichigo would be gone for a long period of time sure but Ichigo had always been a free spirited male that liked to go and see new places since he was a little boy. With a small exploration team Ichigo could see the world as well as be a trauma doctor for when something bad happened. It sounded like it would work nicely.

"I suppose that is a rather well thought out idea." He commented and saw the blonde blush faintly. "Ever since Ichigo informed us that he could no longer continue study I tried to think of a way to help him." Isshin smirked at this. "Alright, I won't agree to this as this is something Ichigo has to agree with." Isshin said as he left the room.

Kisuke slumped in his seat.

How he wanted Ichigo to agree on his idea.

* * *

Ichigo was still looking out into the horizon as the sun started to set. He was nearly over six hours outside yet he didn't feel the chill everyone else did. The setting sun threw oranges, yellows, reds and pinks at the sky making it look simply magical. Leaning over the railing with his arms as his chin rested on the thin railing Ichigo wondered about nothing. He didn't want to ruin the beautiful sunset.

It was so… pretty. He heard people coming closer and cursed. He didn't want to be found now. He moved with ease to the side of the ship. He looked at the boat and noticed that the upper decks were climbable for someone who knew how.

And he knew how.

He climbed the pipe that lead to the second floor above deck and scampered onto the roof before moving deeper onto the flat surface. He sat down so he wasn't visible. He was still able to watch the sun set in peace while he heard people calling his name.

Soon the ball of gas called the sun was below the ocean line. The darkness covered them all, bright stars shined brightly as they twinkled alongside the moon that was full with the sun's borrowed light. Ichigo's daze was broken when he heard his father's call. Sighing Ichigo rose and walked to the edge of the roof. Four pairs of eyes snapped in his direction once his shadow fell on top them from the small light behind him. Grimmjow, Nnoitra, Aizen and Isshin all looked up at him. Ichigo sighed and simply sat down on the edge before pushing himself off and onto the lower floor deck.

He cocked his head to the side in question. Grimmjow just cackled and punched Ichigo lightly in the shoulder. Ichigo smirked back before doing the same to the blue haired man. Grimmjow hissed and rubbed his shoulder mockingly. The men went inside to get some dinner.

Inside the mess hall everyone was cheerful. It was the last night on the boat. Ichigo got his tray and sat down next to Urahara who gave the red head a small smile. Ichigo gave one back as well, this didn't slip by sharp brown eyes. Smiling to himself Aizen watched the two interact. It seemed that the two worked well with one another.

Once dinner was done and dusted Kisuke asked Ichigo to come to his room as he had something he wanted to discuss with the red head. Ichigo agreed and the two went off missing the smirking faces of their friends.

"Pfft those two will be an item before the ship docks." Nnoitra mumbled and munched on his food, his second tray of food.

Nel smirked as her woman's intention told her that was already the case but she wasn't going to voice it. Beside her Harribel had the same feeling, the two women glanced at one another and smirked.

In the hallway Ichigo and Kisuke were walking in silence. They reached the blonde's room. They took their normal seats, Ichigo on the blonde's head sitting cross legged and Urahara at his desk looking at Ichigo. The blonde sighed and rose making Ichigo wonder what they were about to talk about.

Kisuke sat down next to Ichigo. "So I was thinking ever since you said that you could no longer be a doctor." The blonde noticed that Ichigo was looking at him with interest. "So I did some thinking and so forth and I have a proposition for you." He saw Ichigo shift so he was facing the blonde.

"I have a team I normally take to explorations. I am however in need of medical personnel…" he left the sentence open wondering if Ichigo would catch on. He did if the hug he was blessed with was any clue. He was pushed backwards by Ichigo who was hugging him while nodding his head. "You mean it? You want me to join your team?" Ichigo asked looking up at Kisuke.

The blonde chuckled and nodded his head while his hand moved to stroke a pale cheek. Ichigo leaned into the touch still holding the grey eyes with his one brown ones.

Before anything more could be said the boat's alarm went off which meant only one thing.

Pirates.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The ship was boarded by pirates who had most at gun point. Ichigo ordered Kisuke to stay behind him and quiet.

As they sneaked around the ship they found that the pirates were still outside on the deck shouting at the others to get them to comply but there was a language barrier. _"Hichigo… these powers of yours that I got. Can I use them to save everyone?"_ Ichigo asked in his head to the fuming Hichigo.

The moment Hichigo woke up at the sound of the alarm he asked what was going on, when Ichigo informed him that they were all in danger he got like a pissed off wild cat.

 ** _"_** ** _Yes you can use them, the shift one you just have to remember what you felt and focus on the area you want to go, the other power that got me my name, well anyone who gets the smallest amounts of that venom will be susceptible for control."_**

Ichigo nodded and told Kisuke to stay where he was, Kisuke was about to protest when he saw Ichigo open the door. With adrenaline pumping violently in his veins Ichigo used the feeling and locked onto the areas he wanted to go. He knew he was probably going to make a mistake but he had to try. The same pushing feeling came over him. He heard the shouts of the frightened pirates. Each time Ichigo stopped by one of the pirates he swiped at them making deep enough slashes while feeling the ever odd feeling of the venom releasing as he relaxed his finger at the last moment. After all ten pirate members had a deep set of gashes on their bodies did Ichigo land before the rest of the group. He was breathing hard and was feeling like fainting at the very second.

 ** _"_** ** _Focus now Ichigo, lift your hands and spread out your fingers."_** Ichigo did as instructed and held his arms out, he was surprised to see that none of the pirates could seem to move and were all shouting in their language. **_"Now, make a claw motion with your fingers and then tense your fingers."_** Again Ichigo complied and was amazed when he saw black beads of sticky black liquid emerging from the holes. **_"Now relax your fingers."_**

Ichigo did and the black beads lowered slowly forming small thin nearly invisible wires before the beads just vanished into the air. He heard a pleased sound escape Hichigo. **_"Now this is where your mind takes over. You need to keep moving your hands however. If you move them smoothly the actions will not hurt whoever you have control of. Move your fingers rough and crooked they will hurt as it is forced upon them with more will. You having such a strong will… well you get the picture."_**

And he did. He looked at all the men and thought better than to kill them, he wasn't a killer. He gently moved his fingers forcing his will gently onto the weaker willed men. They all moved like ragdolls being held up by strings. The pirates moved with jerk-like movements off the boat and onto their own. The captain of the ship being a man who had seen many storms yet was incredibly freaked out moved back to the ship blocking out what he just saw and shifted the ship to move.

Once the ship was well enough away and Ichigo was sure everything was fine did he lower his hands breaking the strings as well as his hold in his consciousness.

The moment the hard thud of Ichigo's body meeting the hard metal of the deck broke everyone from their spell. Isshin and Urahara ran over to the man who was slightly shaking due to exhaustion. Isshin gently carried his son inside back to the ship's mess hall. Everyone is deathly silent and unsure of what to make of what they just saw with their own disbelieving eyes.

Ichigo woke up after a minute or so groaning as his head was assaulted by a wave of dizziness. He could hear more than one person speaking and wasn't sure if one of those voices were Hichigo.

Once the dizziness passed he sat up with the help of Urahara while Isshin was in front of him checking his vitals. Ichigo was well and truly out of it, he didn't know what was going on around him, all sounds were muted and dull to his ears while his eyes saw everything before him but didn't actually take note of what was in front of him making him look ahead in a dazed manner.

Slowly everything around him became clear, almost too vividly. First voice he took note of was Hichigo.

 ** _"_** ** _Well you did that like you have done it for years. Well done I am proud to have a vessel as strong willed as you. Oh don't worry about what just happened. It happened to me as well first time I used my powers. It was just a shock to the body."_** The pleased sound of Hichigo's voice made Ichigo calm down somewhat. It did feel well… freaky when he controlled those pirates. It felt like he wasn't himself yet in full control of what he was doing.

He looked up to the eyes of a worried father.

"I'm okay." Ichigo mumbles as he leaned back to see who was holding him up. Upon seeing grey eyes and blonde hair he gave a soft smile to both men to assure them of his words. "Was just a shock to the body, haven't done that before." Ichigo said the last part somewhat sarcastic.

Grimmjow and the rest of the group are on Ichigo as soon as he said those words demanding to know "What the fuck" just happened. Ichigo sighed and leaned more into Urahara as he was still not sure his body would hold itself upright if he stood. He slowly started to explain the minimal of details of what happened to Ichigo.

Once he was done they all just stared.

Mayuri slunked forward and grabbed Ichigo's jaw making the man look up at him, his smirk was eerie and screamed ill intent.

Ichigo heard a few people give out warning noises.

"My my this would be foolish not to experiment on." The man said smiling widely. This time it was Ichigo who growled and gripped the man's wrist in his back hands, his grip was tight, so much so that the man's knees threatened to buckle. "Don't you even fucking think about it. I am not your guinea pig to be tested on. I will kill you if you come near me again." Ichigo hissed and unintentionally dug his nails into the man's skin, the pain in the man's wrist being squeezed failed to notice the fine prick pain or the slight burn of the venom being injected.

Neither did Ichigo know he was doing it.

Emotions played a large roll when it came to the body's reactions.

Everyone was silent as they watched Ichigo hiss at the man who was staring back with wide pain filled eyes. Ichigo released the wrist and was helped up by Urahara and Isshin. They were lead to the mess hall for dessert that was promised on the last night that was awkwardly silent as they all kept their eyes on Ichigo to make sure he was fine.

Ichigo acted like nothing was wrong and he didn't show any signs of being in pain so they all slowly warmed up to what they saw and dubbed it as 'Awesomely freaky.'

* * *

 **So my one friend told me that Ichigo's power in this story resembles someone in another anime/manga. I inform you all that I have no idea what anime this is.**

 **I didn't intend to unintentionally steal an idea but there it is I am not changing the story because of this. I am making no profit out this, this is purely to help me keep being creative. I have only artistic talents and nothing else so anything that helps me keep up the creative stream I do so. I also happen to find this very relaxing and fun to do.**

 **However thank you for the favourites and follows as well as the odd review here and there. I thank you all dearly.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	5. Tugging strings

**Sorry for the delay, got sick and another painting to finish so yeah…**

 **Anyway here you all are!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Tugging strings**

Urahara looked around the small apartment. He was asked by Ichigo to help him pack, it had been a few days after the happenings on Puppeteer's island as Ichigo had dubbed it. Now Ichigo was moving out of the apartment.

At first he was going to go back home but Urahara said he had an extra room for Ichigo, Isshin wasn't all that happy till he saw the home for himself. He was more than impressed by the house he saw and agreed reluctantly afterwards that it was probably for the best that Ichigo moved in with Urahara.

What solidified this was that Urahara didn't live alone.

Ichigo was now busy packing up what little clothes remained in his closet. Urahara was in the living room packing the red head's books in a big brown cardboard box. The red head had a startling amount of books the blonde noticed. Not all of them were medical books but the vast amount was medical books and such showing how seriously Ichigo took his studies.

A feeling guilt spread into his stomach as he still felt somewhat responsible for what happened to Ichigo but he knew he couldn't ever have known what would have happened. Still he was saddened that Ichigo's dream of being a trauma doctor were basically gone into dust but there was nothing he could do other than stand by the young man and help him along the way.

Once the last book was inside the second box he tapped it shut and shoved it next to the other box to be carried out once their ride came to get them both. He walked to the only bedroom of the apartment and stood at the doorway watching as Ichigo gently laid all his clothes into various bags, he noted that some of the heavier material clothing went into one bag while the lighter garments went into another bag. Shoes were in a smaller brown box. Ichigo was folding the last of his t-shirts into the last open bag when he finally spoke.

"Is there anything else you would like to take with you?" Ichigo tilted his head in thought. Urahara asked looking around at the sparse space before him with little decorations besides for a laptop bag already packed, a few magazines about gyms and the sort or some cars. On the wall with the window there was a small ledge for placing things at the window. The window stilt had a bunch of picture frames. In each had a family member Urahara guessed as there was a beautiful woman with a shade lower than Ichigo's orange hair. She was young and was holding a beaming Ichigo. That was the only photo the woman was in. Isshin was in a few as were two young girls Urahara guessed were his sisters.

There was a group shot that grabbed his attention.

Five young faces looked back at him; Chad was there next to a slightly scowling Ichigo although he had a smirk on his face. A brunette was somewhat hanging off of Ichigo while laughing at the camera. A timid looking raven head man was smiling at the camera. Next was a blonde face he instantly recognised.

"Shinji." The blonde said getting Ichigo's attention. Zipping up the bag Ichigo walked to stand beside the blonde. "You know Shinji?" Ichigo asked looking over the blonde's shoulder to see the Urahara had picked up the picture frame to see closer. Shinji was half over Ichigo's opposite shoulder placing more weight on what was the injured shoulder making the blonde believe that this picture was taken before the crash.

"Yes I met him a year or so ago, he's a friend of mine's friend I guess you could say. I didn't know you two knew each other." Urahara commented. Ichigo rested his chin on Urahara's shoulder. "He was the driver of the car." Ichigo said feeling Urahara go rigid.

"He was?" Urahara asked and turned to face Ichigo.

Ichigo had a grim look on his face.

"Yeah. He got a heavy concussion along with a broken femur and a few ribs. Two even shattered where the door's armrest slammed into his side. He had a lot of internal damage too. His heart stopped two times in the operation but as you probably guessed they got him through and he had to get a lot more therapy than I did." Ichigo said sitting down on his bed before flopping down. His hair fell around him in almost an artful way.

There was a knock on the door. Ichigo looked to Urahara to open it as he wore a short sleeve shirt due to the summer heat. The blonde smiled and pecked Ichigo on the lips making Ichigo blush faintly. He walked to the door and opened it while it was still on the lock chain. He saw the two boys from the photo. They blinked up at him confused. They both looked to the door but there it was. The right apartment number, they looked back at him with suspicion.

Urahara looked back and spoke loud enough for Ichigo hear. "Ichigo, some of your friends are here." That made the two younger men relax, they heard shuffling from inside as Ichigo got up. The soft sound of bare feet on the wood announced Ichigo's approach.

The door closed and the sound of the chain lock being undone was heard. The door opened more widely allowing the two men to gasp when they saw their friend.

Keigo looked at Ichigo in shock as his jaw dropped nearly dislocating it.

Mizuiro was also in a state of shock but hid it better than his loud mouth companion.

Ichigo stood back and allowed his friends to dumbly stumble inside. The moment they saw boxes they broke out of the trance. They both swirled around to see Ichigo locking the door and walking to the blonde man they have never seen before.

"Yo Ichigo, ya moving?" Keigo asked looked straight at Ichigo.

Said red head looked at both his high school friends and smirked. This made them relax a little, the boxes and packed bags spoke more loudly sadly. Ichigo having sensed this smiled softly at the down looks both his friends had on their faces.

"I'm just moving to another house not continent." Ichigo joked softly. Both their heads snapped up and with joy in their eyes Keigo opened his to speak but a tap on the door broke the scene. Urahara went to open the door again as Ichigo checked his watch. Well it was time to go it seemed.

Ichigo went into the bedroom and took the last two big bags of clothes. He packed all his clothes winter and summer clothes.

Keigo watched as a large man with tanned skin, a dark thick black moustache with black cornrows as well as thick square framed glasses. The man nodded to Urahara before locking onto Ichigo who stiffened when the large man stood a little over him with a calculating look.

The man nodded his head and proceeded to glomp Ichigo into a mighty bear hug that woke Hichigo up. The white haired being was on the defensive from the get go but Ichigo easily calmed him down. Hichigo mumbled miffed that Ichigo didn't allow him to see much action. Ichigo just replied that he needed to move first before he could show Hichigo more. This seemed to please the white haired puppeteer.

Keigo and Mizuiro as well as Ichigo watched as Urahara got the hulking man to release Ichigo. The red head just chuckled. "You must be Tessai?" Ichigo asked with the tilt of the head. His long hair slid and shifted as he moved catching the sun as it filtered inside making a gold tint appear around him. Ichigo didn't know this but the whole looked was so… breathtaking for the blonde that he had to fight himself from to dragging his Ichigo out from other's gaze.

Oh he was a little on the possessive side but who could really blame him? It was more out of fear than anything as Ichigo was now even more eye-catching with his new longer hair and slimmer toned body. He wouldn't act upon these urges because he knew that they would drive the red head away.

Tessai nodded and held out his hand for a shake. Ichigo looked at the hand and looked to Urahara who smiled, he nodded telling Ichigo that Tessai knew. Slowly he lifted his hand making his friends realise for the first time that Ichigo wasn't wearing a long sleeve shirt like they thought but his actual arm was black with long nails.

Both made stuttering noises while Ichigo sighed as Tessai shook his hand with no problems. Urahara stepped closer and gently lead Ichigo to the couch. "Why don't you explain to your friends while Tessai and I load the things onto the truck?" Ichigo nodded and slowly sat on the couch careful not to scratch the couch.

His two friends took seats opposite sides of him. Sighing again Ichigo leaned back and looked at each friend before raising his hands for them to see.

"I told you guys about the expedition Chad and I were going on right?" Ichigo started till looking at his nails as his friends did the same enthralled by the slightly curved nails. "Yeah you sounded super excited." Keigo recalled an excited Ichigo which was just an actual smiling Ichigo otherwise Ichigo looked the same, only his friends could read him so well by now.

"Yeah well it all went well until we got to the island, Ishida was being a little bitch and thought I was after Orihime, I was even being rude to the girl so she would get off my back." Ichigo groaned knowing full well that his friends knew he was gay. Keigo patter his shoulder with pity yet he was slightly envious. Despite Ichigo's permanent scowl he always got hit on by women and men like he was a fire and they the moths.

Ichigo didn't mind the men as he was gay but most never stood a chance with Ichigo's violent and strong personality.

"Well… see we found this temple. It was blocked so they to use explosives to blow it open; once that was done we went inside. There was nothing beside this moat running along the walls that made a smaller pool in the middle where a stature of this cloaked figure. Well we did try to get a sample of the black liquid out for a test but it ate or more like dissolved the flask. While I was looking at the moat's black liquid Mr. prissy came and confronted me about my attitude towards Orihime and well let's just say he got a tad too emotional and shoved me, the railing behind me broke and I fell inside the blackness." Ichigo looked to both sides seeing that their friends caught on at how dangerous the black water was. Keigo was slightly shaking. "What happened then?" he asked scooting closer. Ichigo huffed and scratched his head.

All I remember was darkness surrounding me and the feeling of hands. I tried to keep my mouth closed but well it was useless in the end and I gasped, that allowed the blackness to enter me I guess. I passed out at that point and only woke up at night looking like I am now." Ichigo finished keeping Hichigo a secret. It wasn't like he didn't trust his friends but he felt they would be more at ease of they thought that Ichigo was still the same inside his head.

"Wow so does your nails like do anything or are they just for show?" Keigo asked zooming in on the nails after he guessed that Ichigo was fine now seeing as he was acting like himself. He examined the nails from the front looking at the way the curved slightly. Ichigo's black skin still looked smooth and healthy just not the same tanned skin they were sure to seeing.

Ichigo nodded at the question.

"Yeah the whole ordeal gave me a few neat tricks." Ichigo said smirking as he heard Hichigo howling with glee at the fact that Ichigo called his powers tricks. Hichigo knew why Ichigo revered to them as such, calling them powers would mean that they are powerful abilities. While calling them tricks minimized what people would expect.

Both men were looking at Ichigo with curious eyes. Ichigo just smirked which told them that they would be getting nothing out of him. Leaving it for now they went on to the next thing that made them curious. All while they spoke Urahara ad Tessai came in got a box or bag and walked down the stairs and outside to the moving van.

"So who's the blonde?" Mizuiro asked glancing at Ichigo as he whispered the question as Urahara walked out carrying one of the book boxes with the help of Tessai as they were rather heavy.

The faint blush on Ichigo's cheeks was all that they really needed. "Um… his name is Urahara Kisuke and well he was the lead explorer of the group as well as the one who contacted my dad. We… kinda hit it off well and now… we're dating I guess." Ichigo said not looking up from his hands as he knew his friends was smirking at him. This was after all his first relationship.

Before anything else could be said Urahara stood before the three with a small smile on his lips as he gazed at the red head. He held out a hand to help the red head up. Once done Ichigo turned around and gazed at Keigo. "You wanted to find a new place right?" he asked watching as Keigo nodded his head in slight confusion.

Ichigo reached into his pocket and held out the keys to the apartment. "The landlord will be by later to change the lease to your name. It's low in costs and your salary would more than make up for it." Ichigo said with a lopsided grin as he watched Keigo re-enact the mouth of a fish.

"You mean… you're handing the apartment over to me?" he asked in amazement. It was true that he was trying to move out his childhood home he shared with his violent sister. Now here he was being given an apartment with furniture and all.

Ichigo was truly one of a kind. With an over exaggerated sniff h nearly ploughed Ichigo into the floor with the massive hug. Ichigo couldn't find it in him to bash the brunette away as he would have normally. "Yeah I'm moving out after all and I don't plan on returning so instead of just selling everything and walking away… well I did call you over didn't I?" Ichigo said as Keigo released Ichigo, Mizuiro glanced at Urahara and had to fight the urge to smirk. There was the smallest taint of possessiveness in the blonde's grey eyes. Keigo just gave a goofy grin.

Ichigo said his good-byes and left with Urahara.

* * *

Once the van stopped in front of the house Ichigo was floored.

It was beautiful. The two story house was all beige plaster with a double garage. It had a rustic appended but Ichigo knew somehow that the house was well cared for. The edges of the walls were the met up were tinted darker while the dusty red roof shone brightly in the day light. The wooden door and windows suited the house's Italian flair.

Ichigo was shook from his viewing by Urahara's slightly bigger hand on his shoulder. He looked to the blonde and saw that he was looking at Ichigo with a little trepidation. Ichigo smiled and looked back at the house. "It's beautiful." Tessai stood proudly with his chest puffed out slightly. Both Ichigo and Urahara chuckled at this.

The three of them grabbed a box or bag each leaving the heavier boxes for last. The moment Ichigo stepped into the house Ichigo was home. He looked around at the open plan room. The living room, dining room as well as kitchen were all in open view the floors where marble while the wall white. The furniture was wooden and had comfy looking cushions.

The kitchen was decked with thick wooden slabs for countertops. The appliances were new age and well kept with not a speck of dust around. Ichigo followed Urahara with the promise to look around later. The room was in a long hallway that held the two male adults rooms along with his. Tessai's room was on the far end. Ichigo's and Urahara's room was separated by the library which didn't seem to bother Ichigo in the slightest. In fact the moment the library was mention Ichigo looked pleased.

Urahara already knew that Ichigo liked to read so he didn't ask as to why.

The room was large and airy. The bed was on the right side of the room, a built in closet to the left nook of the room. There was a couch on the opposite side of the bed looking at the massive king size bed that had a iron frame that was also a canopy bed with sheer white fabric hanging off the sides. The walls were a pale baby green with a hard wood floor. Ichigo looked around and saw a door next to the bed on the right side of the room beside the only window of the room. Said door was open showing an all white bathroom with a claw paw bath with a built in shower as well as the sink. The rest of the room was blocked from view.

Ichigo gently lowered the bags he was carrying and hugged Kisuke tightly making his drop the last of the large bags to hug the man back. Tessai watched with a hidden smirk, he slowly and quietly lowered the box he was carrying knowing that it was the shoe box. He gently closed the door walking to the other part of the house to get Junta to help him carry the other boxes to the library.

The kids could meet Ichigo tomorrow after all, there was no rush.

Inside the room Ichigo was now slowly walking around the room looking at everything, he flopped down onto the couch and looked at Kisuke expectantly.

Getting the drift he moved to sit next to the red head. Ichigo didn't take long before Ichigo spoke. "This is amazing thank you." Ichigo said looked to Kisuke who nodded with a smile. Feeling that he should thank his boyfriend better than with words, Ichigo leaned in and kissed the blonde softly but Hichigo was demanding more.

 ** _"_** ** _C'me on Ichigo I hav been stuck in tha temple for ova six hundred years show meh at least a little action! Hell go watch porn or something please!"_** Hichigo moaned and groaned. Ichigo held back the urge to snicker. Hichigo had gained a new way of speaking when Ichigo watched a movie the day he got back into his own apartment. The white haired being was so enthralled by the moving screen and the tough speaking lead actor that he quickly picked up the speech pattern.

Ichigo found it highly amusing to be fair, he didn't mind Hichigo all that much. Sure he made crude remarks that surprised Ichigo at first as to how perverted the being was. However soon Ichigo began to realise that this was just how the man was. Perverted, sometimes utterly silly yet protective oddly like a bigger brother.

Now the slight problem was that Hichigo was near demanding to see some real live action, meaning he wants to see Ichigo having sex with his boyfriend of just barely a week. Ichigo tried hundreds of times to explain to Hichigo that it didn't work like that in the new age, when told so Hichigo huffed and said that the humans became prudes making Ichigo chuckle at the pout on Hichigo's face.

Back to the present Urahara had taken very slow steps when it came to showing his affection for the red head. Their kisses were sweet and never lasted long. It made Ichigo crave more but knew noticed the kisses becoming longer and a little more heated as the time moved on.

He was fine with this slow pace as it gave them the time to learn more about one another.

They parted and Ichigo was gently cupped by the cheek, this had become a habit of the two. "Aizen has invited us both to dinner at his home, would you like to go?" he asked looking into amber brown eyes.

Ichigo smiled and nodded his head. Urahara gave another peck on the lips that lasted more than a few seconds. The two started to unpack with Urahara helping his boyfriend.

Soon the two were busy getting Ichigo's room ready.

Urahara was waiting in the living room for Ichigo to emerge from his room, they both showered and got dressed. Ichigo taking a little longer as he had to be more careful with dressing himself due to his nails.

The blonde haired explorer heard Ichigo's door open. He rose from the couch and had to fight not to gasp out loud. Ichigo had tied his hair up in a low tail while he wore a pair of slim fitting slacks and a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up toll just above his elbows.

His shoes were all black sneakers that oddly fit along with the slim red tie loosely tied around Ichigo's neck. Urahara walked over to Ichigo giving the man an ample chance to ogle him. Ichigo arched a brow at the hat adoring his loved one's head. It was a white and green stripped bucket hat. Ichigo started at the odd article of clothing hard trying to decide if he hated it or found it amusing.

He picked the latter. Looking down he saw Urahara was wearing a nice pair of grey slacks with a dark green shirt. His dress shoes were neatly polished and clean. Ichigo tipped the hat up a little to see grey eyes glinting with glee. "Nice hat." Ichigo said with a smirk.

Urahara laughed softly while dragging the hat down lower till his eyes were covered. "Why thank you dear Ichigo." He said in a playful tone before giving Ichigo a kiss that Ichigo returned eagerly from the moment their lips touched. Urahara groaned, he simply loved the feeling of Ichigo's lips. They were full but nowhere near pouty. They were smooth showing that the man looked after them as well as the health glow of his skin.

Ichigo pulled back and gave the man a retreating peck before looking towards the door. Urahara nodded and walked alongside the blonde.

Outside the sun was setting slowly. The two men went into the blonde's car without a word. Once on their way Ichigo asked something he had been meaning to ask but hadn't got the time to.

"Who else lives in the house?" he asked looking at the road as they passed other housed of different styles and sizes.

The red head knew they were going to Aizen's home. Now what that interpreted he didn't know.

* * *

Aizen watched Momo as she placed the stuffed chicken into the oven, his wife was of a very short stature but she was the one for him, that much he knew. As he sat at the island watching her cook their dinner for the time to be spent with his one friend and his… well he didn't know if the two had gotten together but he hoped so.

Momo noticed her husband's faraway look and wondered if he was thinking about his friend's lack of love life that might be ending of even ended for all they knew as Urahara was rather secretive.

There was a beep of their front gate guard calling in that Urahara had arrived and were on their way in. Momo bounced slightly as she was excited to see the mysterious man who seemed to grab the blonde's attention. She was warned about his ailments so to speak.

Aizen withheld all of the info of what Ichigo looked like to spite his wife in a playful nature as he loved to tease her whenever he could. Like now, however he did inform her to what happened on the island and Ichigo's odd case of weirdness. Momo looked so sad when he told her everything from how Ichigo fell to his broken dream of becoming a doctor. He tried to explain as best as possible how Ichigo's arms and nails looked but it seemed Momo was picturing something far worse.

They both heard the roar of a car engine, two doors opening and closing as well before silence. Aizen mentally counted how many steps he guessed would be taken. He wasn't off as when he reached zero there was a knock on the door that he went to open.

Opening he sighed when he saw the bucket hat had shown itself once more. Ichigo smirked seeming to understand the sigh's cause. Urahara either played dumb or was really oblivious to the fact that his friend and some other don't like his hat all that much.

Aizen stepped back to allow the two men to enter and he had to admit Ichigo looked… good.

The black of his arms didn't seem to ruin his dashing good looks at all, in fact the oddness seemed to fit the red head perfectly.

Urahara and Ichigo stood in the massive foyer while Aizen closed the door. The brown haired man led his guests to the parlour for some tea. Momo was just setting the tray down when they entered. She straightened ready to keep her face as straight as possible to not offend Ichigo but what she saw shocked her to her core.

Here stood a… very attractive man. Orange hair that was so obscure she had a hard time believing that it was natural. Yet it suited the man so well that it just had to be. Soft brown eyes looked back at her shade or two darker orbs. A small frown was etched between the darker orange brows but he was smiling politely at her so she didn't know what to make of the frown but believed the smile to be genuine.

She smiled back and started to pour tea into cups asking how much sugar and cream. She lifted the cup to give it to Ichigo but Aizen gently lifted it out of her smaller hands handing it to Ichigo himself. She understood at that moment why when she locked onto Ichigo's hands.

Long black elegant looking fingers with sharp claws were handling the fine chine tea cup with so much care that Momo felt so much pity for Ichigo right then and there. After all Aizen had explained that before the trip Ichigo was a normal human being. With dreams and aspirations to become one of the most stressful positions a doctor could ever have.

But the young man looked happy as he chatted to Aizen about how well he was settling in at Urahara's. Ichigo's brown eyes suddenly locked onto her. A sheepish smile made its way onto Ichigo's face, he gently placed the frail cup down onto the tray and scooted his body to face the small lady of the house.

"I'm sorry but we haven't been introduced." He chuckled and lifted his hand slightly but it flopped down onto his lap. A tilt of the head followed by a nod.

"Hello Momo, thank you for inviting us." Ichigo spoke for both of them, Momo knew that Ichigo was going to lift his hand for a shake but thought it best not to. So it seemed that the man was self conscious about the black fang like nails.

She felt a small pang of empathy for the man.

Smiling back she returned the nod.

"It's a pleasure Ichigo, I'm happy Urahara had found someone." She said wanting to test the waters, she saw Aizen's calculating glint as he watched the pair. The reaction was more than pleasing, Urahara pulled Ichigo back fully onto the couch and wrapped his arm around Ichigo's waist. Ichigo just scooted closer.

This made both brunettes smile. Urahara gave a goofy grin.

"I'm glad Ichigo even looked my way." He somewhat joked but there was a small hint of seriousness in his voice that made Ichigo look over at him with a small frown.

"What?" he asked softly.

Aizen and Momo shared a look. "Honey come and help me set the table." Momo excused them both as she took the tray with her, Aizen following suit.

The two on the couch barely noticed.

Urahara sighed and gently rubbed Ichigo's cheek with his index finger. "I mean what I say when I tell you that I can hardly believe that you even looked twice in my direction."

Ichigo frowned more.

"You are a silly man." Ichigo said shaking his head, but the small smile on his lips made Urahara know that Ichigo was flattered with the comment but didn't want to show it. He wanted to grumbled and be a moody fuck he tended to be but somehow he couldn't really with Urahara. The man seemed to regard him so highly that it made him wanted to smack the man gently on the back of the head as well as smile goofily.

* * *

The four sat at the dinner table will in the middle of dinner which was pleasant and full of snarky jokes between Urahara and Aizen.

All was well until the sudden hail of bullets erupted from outside. It was far enough to know it was at the gate. The sounds of SUV trucks roaring closer made them all jump into action. They barely had enough time to react as the house was attacked from all sides. Momo not being in any shape or form a fighter screamed absolutely terrified.

Aizen and Urahara as well as Ichigo were too far away and on a safer area. Gritting his teeth Ichigo forced himself to calm down and lock onto the area next to Momo, with adrenaline pumping in his veins faster than any human would ever be able to handle Ichigo shifted over to Momo cradling her small body to his blocking what would have been a kill blow to the head. it just lodged itself into his back.

That was when the world turned black for Ichigo with the last sounds he remembered was his named being screamed as well as Hichigo giving a rage filled scream.

* * *

 **Right hope this was okay ( O_O)**

 **Thanks for the reviews and so forth you are all too sweet!**


	6. Pulling strings

**Yo people!**

 **I am oddly happy lately… odd ne?**

 ** _PLEASE READ!_**

 **So I don't think this will be too exciting as it's another build up…**

 **Anyway this isn't going to be a long story sadly as it's just a way for me to get my next story's details under wrap. Said story will be my first… first person point of view. It will have a medieval theme with swords and war. Jubac (Did I spell that right? Quincy ruler) will be in here but not as the enemy.**

 **I want to play a little with the Quincy characters without being trapped down by Bleach. I don't know enough about them to make the Sequel for Bleached paths… if any of you actually want one…**

 **Anyway I think this will have five or so more chapter left.**

 **Also smut in here, not all that detailed cause I don't want to get in trouble again… sigh…**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Pulling strings**

The men outside the house were ordered to stop shooting and regroup. What they didn't know was that was just what Hichigo wanted. He had temporary control over Ichigo's body with said man watching though his eyes, they could still speak but it seemed Ichigo understood what was happening well enough to know not to fight for control.

He was going to show Ichigo the… darker side of the power he held in his hands.

When the last bullet flew though the shattered window, Momo looked around and gasped when she saw Ichigo standing upright with gold on black eyes glaring out the window to the men clad in black. With his blood pumping he locked onto the ground in front of the men with guns. With an odd hiss noise escaping his mouth he shifted thought the window landing on the grass with grace.

Without saying a word Ichigo raised his hands, well Hichigo was in control but no one knew this.

Long black lines of liquid flowed out of the small holes, thicker than last time. Ichigo's hands were held crooked and gnarled. The two men watching from inside were confused, the last time Ichigo used his powers he had to inject the venom into the system of those who wanted to be controlled.

The long strings of shiny black venom suddenly went rigid and thicker.

"Forceful take over." Ichigo's voice whispered.

The moment the last syllable left his tongue the black ropes of venom shot forward piercing all the men as the string of venom broke up into smaller strings enough to catch each and every one of them. Once this was done the men started to scream in agony. They felt their blood boil in their veins as the venom burned their nerve endings and such to take full control over from the brain's nerve signals.

Once all men have been forcefully taken over did Ichigo pull his hands in a bit as the middle part on the strings vanished from view but the small part from the nail and the parts lodged into the men remained visible, where the string had attached themselves onto the men's skin black veins sprouted, and grew. It burned the men making the scream, gasp or whimper in pain. With this horrifying scene Urahara knew that the deity inside Ichigo was in control.

He could also see he bullet hole in his lover's back. He summarised that Hichigo as Ichigo called him took over to save Ichigo or to protect him at least.

Another hiss like noise left Ichigo, it was when the three in the house saw Ichigo's back hunch a bit. Ichigo's body was in pain.

A heavy frown rested onto Ichigo's faces as the long black fingers started to make jerking motions which got him a few more screams of pain. The three adults watched in horror as the men moved like dolls with twitching moves. They were all willed to point their guns at one another. Ichigo was starting to panic a little inside.

 _"_ _You're not going to kill them are you? We have laws now that keep you from killing people! We can get into a lot of trouble Hichigo!"_ Ichigo nearly yelled looking on with slight hysteria.

Hichigo paused.

 ** _"_** ** _Fine… I won' kill em."_** He said and moved his fingers to the aim were now on non vital points. With one last twitching move of his index fingers the sounds of gun shots going off at the same exact time boomed through the air startling the poor birds that just settled back.

Urahara ran outside to where Ichigo was on his knees. The bullet was very close to his spine and it was somewhat worrisome. Ichigo was holding one hand on the ground while the other long nailed hand was inside the hole but not moving as if looking for the bullet. With a groan the hand pulled back showing that the black strings were pulling out the bullet. The black strings were coiled around the piece of deadly metal. With a relieved sigh Ichigo flopped down onto the ground.

The black and gold melted away from his eyes.

The blonde slowly kneeled down to the side of Ichigo which he was looking to, their eyes met. Ichigo gave a small smile.

"It wasn't as deep as I feared. It didn't hit anything vital but I will be needing stitches." Ichigo shuddered when a wave of pain went up his back. Urahara nodded knowing Ichigo didn't mean going to a hospital. Never before was he as happy as now that Tessai was a retired military doctor. Ichigo was helped into the car all the while apologising for everything. Momo shook of his apologies with a smile claiming that it wasn't his fault to begin with and that he saved her. Aizen wouldn't let that fact slip as he knew he was very close to losing his wife.

Once the two men were a safe distance away Aizen called for his men, an hour passed had them all standing before him looking at the pile of men moaning in pain. "Take them bind them, heal them till they are out of danger. Place them in the basement. I want to know who sent them." Aizen ordered with a deadly voice.

The large group nodded and looked in shock at the once pristine house now riddled with bullets

"Damn…" Nnoitra murmured as he hauled a lout over his shoulder while dragging another inside the house not minding that the man's head was lightly bumping against the steps as he entered the house.

* * *

Two weeks pasted after that day. Ichigo got his stitches from Tessai and met the other two members of the household. Junta didn't like Ichigo at first until the red head showed the younger his abilities.

Ururu was attached to Ichigo's hip the moment he said hello to the girl in a sweet tone. Something about the girl made him think about his little sisters. They had ice-cream and comedy movies that night to help Ichigo forget the pain in his body as pain pills didn't seem to work, in fact Urahara had a suspicion that no medicine would work on Ichigo.

The day after the shooting incident they got a call from Aizen telling them that the mercenaries were all hired by an anonymous man, he paid up front for them to capture the red head. With a little more digging Aizen assured both men that he would have a name and soon.

Understandably it would be a while before the man would have said info as he had a wide set of Intel as well as jobs he and his team had to do, Ichigo informed the man that he could take his time as Urahara had another expedition on the rise.

This is where we find our love birds.

Urahara was leaning over a map of a rain forest somewhere to the north of America. It would be a normal temple expedition with the addition that his was a more secured location. Ichigo was on the other side of the table listening to Tessai as he spoke about his years in the army as a medic. Ichigo was enthralled by the stories and his admiration for Tessai grew. The man went through a lot.

Junta came in exclaiming loudly.

"What! You're going on an expedition again! You two barely got back from the previous one!" He yelled angry, both explorers and medic knew that the red head teen was more pissed about not being able to come with as he had been near begging for the last two years.

Urahara sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, Ichigo gave him one glance and knew that the blonde was growing tired of these exclamations of the younger red head. Ururu came out with a tray holding tea and some cookies. Ichigo smiled at the girl, she was very weak and would be for the rest of her life as she had a very weak body that was in all shapes dangerous as her mother used drugs while she was pregnant with her.

Tessai had to keep the house up and running and needed Junta to help with keeping an eye on Ururu who sometimes just lapsed into these moments of thoughtless to such a staggering degree that she almost killed herself once as Ichigo heard.

"Now Junta you know why you cannot come along." Ichigo said cocking a hip against the table while he had a cookie in hand and a happy Ururu being hugged with the other arm. Ururu had for lack of better words grown attached to Ichigo like an older brother which was not at all odd for the red head as he had two sisters of the same age hence why he could handle being hugged each time the dark haired female saw him.

This all caused the same argument the group had the two day of planning before held.

It ended the same with a huffing Junta and a cross Urahara, a sniffing Ururu while Ichigo was annoyed. Tessai just watched the scene with a small hidden smile.

They were starting to look more and more like a family.

* * *

The planning had gone well and they had their funding.

Aizen had sent a smaller team with them free of charge as the men and woman who came alone wanted to and were all three on break themselves.

Nel, Grimmjow and Nnoitra were waiting at the privet airport beside the jet that would take them to the nearest airbase, once there they would all go by car or more truck as Grimmjow said. After all he saw the heavy duty vehicle once or twice in his army days. Yes he too went to the army but was discharged due to being too violent.

Go figure eh?

A white car came up to the airstrip, Ichigo and Urahara got out from the two back seats while Aizen and Momo got out from the front.

Ichigo was standing straight with no problems, his stitches were removed and his back fully healed, he seemed to have a quicker time healing than anyone else. Even the scar was starting to look old. Ichigo grinned at Grimmjow as the man returned a large Cheshire cat grin.

"Yo Ichigo!" Nnoitra greeted with a piano grin, his one visible eye narrowed almost into a leer. "Nice job at the mansion by the way." He said chuckling. Nel giggled and waved enthusiastically at him. Ichigo sighed and opened his arms knowing full well that the woman wanted to hug him.

Nel made a happy noise in the back of her throat before sprinting towards Ichigo and hugging him with a lot of force. Ichigo grunted but allowed the woman to squeeze the very air out of his lungs. Grimmjow was the one to finally pull her away.

Urahara and Aizen finished discussing the identity of the man going after Ichigo, they were surprised that the Urahara household wasn't attacked but they never were. Now they were off to a remote location in North America, again it was Urahara that discovered it a few months ago but since it was on land and not some small island he could allow a large team to make sure it was safe before going off.

Both Ichigo and Urahara whore khaki cargo pants, hiking boots of a similar colour and black shirts. Ichigo's just had a small red cross on the right side of his chest with a bigger cross on his back marking him as medical personnel. Grimmjow and the rest wore similar outfits just in different shades of green and brown.

Aizen and Momo waved them good-bye as the plane lifted off the ground and into the wild blue yonder. Momo looked to Aizen. "Have you discovered anything yet, love?" she asked her husband. Aizen was staring off into the distance with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Yes but I want to make sure it is truth and not fiction." The man said and guided his wife back to the car.

In the plane Grimmjow and Nnoitra were joking loudly about the men they had to interrogate, Ichigo listed half heartedly as he leaned into Urahara. They were sharing the couch like seating in the middle of the plane or rather jet plane as this was one of Aizen's very expensive planes. Feeling oddly comfortable Ichigo soon fell asleep with his head resting on Urahara's shoulder and the man's arm securely around his waist holding him close.

The slight tilt of Ichigo's head made the blonde look down. A small smile crept onto his face, this made the other three look at the couple. "Huh, asleep?" Nel said looking at Ichigo as his face slacked in sleep making the frown between his browns vanish.

"He didn't get much sleep last night. In fact he survives on very little sleep but when he is like this, he tends to fall asleep for an hour or so. Medication doesn't work on him as well. When he was shot no pain pill seemed to work, Tessai was about to give him morpheme but Ichigo refused saying that the pain wasn't that bad." Grimmjow huffed and crossed his arms looking at the slumbering Ichigo.

Long orange hair fell over his shoulders and onto Urahara's chest as Ichigo wore his hair down.

"So how is he?" Nnoitra asked with a leer on his face.

Urahara didn't quiet catch nor did he look at the man due to the fact he was looking down at Ichigo while running a hand through his hair. "How is he in bed?" Nnoitra clarified making Nel choke on her water giving rough coughs and Grimmjow was just trying not to bark out with laugher.

Urahara was wide eyed. A faint blush moved onto his cheeks. He cleared his throat and continued to run his hand through the mass of orange. "We haven't gone there yet. Too early." The blonde man said not looking up.

Nnoitra scoffed and crossed his arms.

"You sound like a woman."

Urahara arched a brow and looked up at the raven haired male.

"We've been dating barely a month. I would say that it is too early." He said not fully understanding why their sex life or lack thereof was now being scrutinised.

Nnoitra didn't look all that convinced. "So what." The man said with a look making the blonde somewhat uneasy. "So what? Nnoitra we're not you and Grimmjow." The man said fighting the smirk that wanted to crawl onto his lips, both men blushed faintly while Nel's lips twitched now and again.

"What I meant was… You like each other, so what about what the norm for a couple is? You two are far from normal and there is clearly a connection." Nnoitra huffed crossing his arms with a small glare pointed to a random direction.

What no one knew was that Ichigo had woken up at the loud noises.

Urahara sighed and rubbed Ichigo's back. "I'll leave that all to Ichigo, when he wants to is when it will happen." Ichigo felt his heart swell a little, he had wondered about sex with Urahara but being an inexperienced man in the act of making love he wasn't so sure. He wasn't a virgin he was a young man in his twenties for crying out loud but he had very limited romps in a bed.

Urahara however he guessed had to be a lover of note.

He snuggled deeper into the blonde and allowed himself to fall asleep for real.

When the plane landed it was nearing night time so they decided to stay at an inn till morning. They all sat and ate as one large table laughing together.

They then slit up into three groups, Grimmjow and Nnoitra shared a room, Nel was given her own room while Ichigo dragged Urahara to their shared room with Urahara looking on with big eyes. Nnoitra and co. however knew that something would be happening.

Urahara barely had enough time to put his bags down before he was pushed onto the bed and had a lap full of Ichigo. A very alluring Ichigo. Black hands gently gripped his and guided them onto slender hips. Urahara's hands tightened the hold once Ichigo's thinner hands left.

He rocked his hips once making friction between them. Urahara moaned and gripped harder to make Ichigo stop. He looked up into brown eyes to see no lick of doubt or an inkling of fear. That was all he needed. He flipped Ichigo over and slowly trailed kisses over the expanse of smooth tanned skin of Ichigo's neck while his hands rode up the black medic shirt Ichigo wore.

The shirt left Ichigo's skin. Urahara looked down at the man underneath him and drew in a slow breath of pure amazement.

Ichigo's hair was sprawled under him taking up most of the bed. long elegant fingers clenched and unclenched while a thin yet all male chest moved up and down with slightly haggard breathing. Ichigo moaned and tugged Urahara's shirt off and continued to drag the man down and over him assaulting the blonde's mouth. Urahara was quick to dominate the kiss however getting a delightful shiver from the red head.

Warm hands moved over soft skin.

Ichigo arched into Urahara's hold asking for more without words. All the while the two devoured each other's mouths with unleashed lust.

Urahara sensing Ichigo's impatience moved to unbuckle the belt keeping Ichigo's pants up. Once he did so he zipped and unbuttoned the pants, he slipped down the long legs of Ichigo and deftly undid the shoe laces and freed Ichigo's feet of the shoes and socks. He quickly yanked the khaki pants down and threw them somewhere in the darkly lit room.

Lifting a long pale leg Urahara started to kiss his way up the long limb making Ichigo shiver now and again. When he reached the hem of his boxers did he hesitate. He looked up into lust blown eyes and gulped as his question died on his tongue. Ichigo would obviously fight if he didn't want something. He slowly ease the boxers down those long legs he wanted wrapped around him.

Once the silk bundle was thrown over a shoulder did Urahara's breath finally leave him as he stared down at Ichigo who by now was rock hard and panting slightly with his hands on either side of his head. Glazed over eyes locked with his grey ones.

"Kisuke…" Ichigo said softly lifting his arms to wrap them around Urahara's neck where the slid down over his chest down his stomach making the nails gently graze his skin making him hiss. Ichigo by now had full control over the sacs of venom and didn't have to worry about accidentally injecting someone.

Ichigo made rather startling quick work with his pants and watched as Urahara hopped off the bed to remove his lower garments. Ichigo's eyes went wide when he eyed the organ he wanted to be buried to the hilt inside him.

Well he was going to be satisfied alright.

He saw the slightly worried look in the grey eyes and had to fight the urge not to roll his eyes, he instead licked hip lips while tilting his head back yet still keeping his eyes on his prize.

"Kisuke…" he moaned loudly while crooking his finger in a seductive look that had Urahara up the bed and over him in seconds. It seemed he didn't need strings to get Urahara to do something.

Lips sealed in a heavy kiss as Urahara's hands danced over the skin of Ichigo's torso. Hands moved up over abs and chest, slid over shoulders. With a small pause his hands soothed over the black skin. He wasn't ready for the intense shiver that wrecked Ichigo's body along with a long drawn out moan of his name that made his little friend twitch, more like jolt.

"Sensitive aren't we?" Urahara purred into Ichigo's ear. This got a breathy chuckle, Ichigo just nodded knowing the man wasn't teasing him at all.

Urahara diced he would play with the sensitive skin on a later occasion

For now he focused on the long neck, more like marking the long neck to show Ichigo was taken. Ichigo however just showed his appreciation by moaning the man's name in the back of his throat. Moving down from the neck Urahara made small love bites all the way down to one of the dark pink nipple, one was teased by mouth while the other teased by forefinger and thumb. Ichigo hissed and groaned as Urahara made both pebble into hard peaks.

Swapping nipples Urahara gave the same amount of attention to both before venturing further down again making love bites as he went.

Once he finally reached his goal he swooped in taking Ichigo's member halfway without a hitch. Ichigo turned his face to bit at the pillow as a muffle for his scream of surprise and pleasure. Groaning again Ichigo blindly reached for Urahara's hand.

Looking up Urahara groaned when Ichigo started to suck on his fingers mimicking what was happening to him down below. Taking the hit Urahara put more effort into making Ichigo fly, and fly Ichigo did once Urahara started to deep throat.

Shivering and soft nibbles were all warning the blonde had before Ichigo exploded in his mouth. Moaning at the taste of his lover Urahara waited till it was all gone down his throat before slipping his three fingers out of a panting mouth. Using the high Ichigo was on Urahara slowly pushed one of the three saliva coated fingers into a very tight ass making him groan and twitch below the belt.

Ichigo withered under the pleasure as Urahara easily found his pleasure gland and started to abuse it while using it as a distraction for the next two fingers. Finally Ichigo snapped and flipped them over startling Urahara but when he gave Ichigo one look he knew he was in for an experience of a lifetime.

Smouldering brown eyes locked onto his stormy grey hues. Without a word Ichigo leaned over the blonde man under him to reach for the customary free lotion that was on the bedside table. Urahara placed his hands on the hot skin of Ichigo's hips. Without breaking eye contact Ichigo used most of the lotion in the small bottle and reached behind him and gripped the engorged member. With slow teasing strokes that threatened to drive Kisuke insane Ichigo lubricated the stiff organ that would be inside him soon.

With a deep breath Ichigo lifted himself off the blonde by placing black hands onto a strong chest and using the strong leg muscles. With the help of Urahara who held his member steady the red head lowered himself onto the other's member.

Both groaned loudly not caring if the other side of the wall could hear, Ichigo had a suspicion that Nnoitra and Grimmjow would be listening too closely to even think of them not hearing.

With another deep breath Ichigo dropped himself and gasped and shuddered when he was impaled and by luck his prostate was grazed. Seeing the heated expression on his lover's face Urahara started to move his hips while using his hands to help Ichigo ride him in what was the sexiest ways Urahara had ever seen.

Soon Ichigo was almost bouncing on the blonde's thighs gasping and moaning softly, it seemed to Urahara that Ichigo wasn't a loud lover and that suited him just fine. He groaned and grunted each time their bodies met in the intimate act of making love. Not being able to take it much longer Urahara flipped them over making Ichigo give out a startled moan as he rammed into his prostate with a rather harsh force. The moan was near scream in volume that it made Urahara shiver however the lustful throaty moan of his name and a harsh buck of hips from Ichigo made his oh so delicate control vanish.

Now moving with stronger thrusts Urahara had to keep Ichigo's moans down with his mouth, not that he minded.

Soon the rhythm they were using became too much and sent both men into a lusty overdrive that made Urahara wonder n the back of his mind if Ichigo would even be able to move the next day as they hips started to complain of the harsh beating they were taking.

Their relief came soon what Ichigo broke the kiss only to chomp down on Urahara's shoulder with a muffled groan of his name while his sharp nails racked down his back, Ichigo's back arched off the bed while thin streaks of black melded with the blonde's skin. The endorphins running though his system helped distract him from the slight burn in his skin which his brain though was just normal scratch wounds.

With a harsh groan Urahara emptied himself inside of Ichigo who shuddered too tired to move much more than that.

Looking down Urahara smiled when he saw Ichigo was busy falling asleep. This was the most relaxed he had seen Ichigo yet as they haven't shared a bed yet. Sighing Urahara rose and got a washcloth, wetting it he gently cleaned Ichigo as best he could before turning attention to himself.

He got under the covers and pulled the slumbering Ichigo closer.

From the sideline Hichigo was sitting as pretty as a picture with a perverted grin slapped onto his face, oh he got his action alright and he had to admit… Ichigo was damn sexy.

Now looking at the slumbering pair he noticed the blackness of their venom fading from sight. This didn't mean it was gone however. Sighing he rubbed a hand over his face and returned to Ichigo's mind to get some sleep himself.

* * *

In the other room both Grimmjow gave each other a fleeting glance while they had their ears to the wall.

Both nodded while saying at the same time. "Damn."

Right before they got their paws on each other.

* * *

The morning brought on light that filtered though a small crack in the curtains. Ichigo opened his bleary eyes to see Urahara's chest. Sighing he snuggled closer and heard the man's heartbeat giving a rhythmic thud thud.

Hichigo sensing Ichigo was awake spoke.

 ** _"_** ** _Well I finalleh go' mah action!"_** The perverted being inside him cheered making Ichigo snort in amusement.

 _"_ _Glad I could entertain you."_ He remarked with a slight smirk. Looking at the clock Ichigo noticed that to was time to get up and going. Looking up at the slumbering blonde Ichigo rose on his arms and softly pecked the blonde. This was enough to wake Urahara. One grey eye opened with some effort but was rewarded with a smiling Ichigo free of his frown with bed hair, well as much as long hair could be messy.

Stroking the soft cheek Urahara looked over to the bedside clock and saw why Ichigo woke him, with a groan he got up and lugged Ichigo with him into a shower. Nothing happened in the shower but Urahara did notice that Ichigo wasn't limping and was split between relieved and somewhat disappointed. Ichigo seemed to have red his mind as he smirked and threw his arms around Urahara.

"If it wasn't for this whole deity think I would be limping I assure you." With a soft kiss they finished their shower with Urahara feeling a little more smug now.

They got dressed while Urahara helped Ichigo brush his hair, well the blonde more like begged to brush the long orange tresses. Ichigo just gave a smile and handed the brush.

Once dressed and ready to go they all met up for breakfast.

Nnoitra gave Ichigo a leering grin fully intending to tease Ichigo but before anyone could say anything Ichigo gave an impish grin that spelled no good. "So had fun being a voyeur?" Ichigo asked with a wink. He moved closer so he could look up at the oddly still Nnoitra. "Did you have fun with Grimmy afterwards? Did ya make him beg?" Ichigo whispered so only the tall man could hear. This made Nnoitra choke back and look at Ichigo with shock filled eyes.

Ichigo laughed and patted Nnoitra's arm.

"And you all thought I was a saint." Ichigo snickered and walked back to Urahara who by now had figured out what Ichigo was on about and could only smirk when he saw the mischievous side of his lover.

With a breakfast filled with jokes done they all drove back to the airport and loaded onto the smaller plane that would take them to the smaller airport nearer to their location. They were to go there by car but once they saw that this was not an international airport due to its small size it was never listed.

Being able to fly there would take much less and they were rather thankful.

* * *

 **This feels rushed to me for some reason…**

 **Oh well hope the smut was good enough, I doubt it but oh well…**

 **Anyway the story will kick up from here so be prepared!**

 **Thanks for the support!**


	7. Loosening strings

**Hey guys!**

 **Hope this chapter is okay!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Loosening strings**

The moment Ichigo sat foot on the camp site he was tackled to the ground with a loud squeal of his name. Only two people called hi like this, one was home with his other sister. The other was strong enough to get Ichigo onto his back with ease.

"Dammit Mashiro get off of him!" Yelled a very many gruff voice. Looking over the green blob of hair Ichigo noted Kensei had a ghost of a smirk on his lips, this was after al a very familiar position most of the gang including Ichigo knew all too well. Laughing Shinji came over with Kensei who gently lifted his girlfriend off of Ichigo where Shinji helped the red head up, he didn't even flinch when he saw Ichigo's hand as he was informed by Urahara.

He had to admit that he did however find them interesting.

Standing tall and up right Ichigo gave the blonde a grin that was met with a piano grin much like Nnoitra's, this wasn't missed by the two mercenaries.

Mashiro who was now back on her feet was buzzing around Ichigo. She picked up his hand and held it to her face with a child like awe look plastered onto her face as she gently poked the pointy end of each nail before stroking the top of Ichigo's hand with a single finger. Shuddering at the hypersensitive skin he gently tore his hand from the short woman. She looked up with large eyes scared she hurt Ichigo.

Ichigo just gave a small smile telling her without words she didn't hurt him. seeing this the other five members came closer.

Urahara, Shinji, Nel and the two men watched amused as Ichigo dodged Hyori with ease while speaking with Lisa about some comic, a hobby they oddly shared.

Hachigen was asking Ichigo questions about his health, the two would were in fact their medical team. Rose and Love were joking around at how Ichigo was now totally not normal. It was their joke that Shinji and Ichigo were undercover super beings as neither of them died in the car crash they were part of as well. They just got off lucky as they were on the opposite side and avoided getting large amounts of the impact.

Now Ichigo was really no longer normal but the way they went about it was as if Ichigo was now some sort of god to them.

The day went on as they packed their stuff out and set up the tents. Soon night had befallen them and thus they got together around a large fire roasting marshmallows. Ichigo was snuggled up into Urahara's side without a lick of shame, Urahara was fighting the smirk that wanted to crawl its way onto his face at the looks the others were giving them. No one said a word, they didn't need to ask.

It was staring them right in the face.

Urahara Kisuke, gay but high standards kept him from dating. Ichigo also gay just very hard to gain trust.

These two… were dating.

And yet the group only found that the two… worked so they withheld their comments… for now.

The next morning the light filtered though the green rooftop of trees making small pillars of light fall onto the temple that had an Aztec look to it. Ichigo hummed as Hichigo materialised outside to take a look himself.

"This place is old as fuck yo!" the while being remarked with some sort of glee in his voice. Ichigo walked alongside the white him as he showed out signs of traps and of the sort. Nodding they both went to the entrance of the temple that was so heavily overgrown with moss that it was hard not to actually see the temple as a cave.

Looking back he saw that the group was getting breakfast ready and no one was giving him a glance. Nodding to himself Ichigo went inside to get rid of the traps with the help of a very excited Hichigo who exclaimed that this would be like training.

When breakfast was ready they were all called to the fire pit. Everyone noticed the lack of red head. One by one all heads turned to the gaping maw of the temple. No sounds were coming from the inside. Hyori jumped up and was about to run into the temple when Urahara stopped her.

"Stop." He said in all seriousness.

The blonde woman looked back at Urahara with a shocked look on her face. Urahara looked into the blackness of the temple entrance.

"Ichigo probably has a reason he went in alone. He has abilities that would make getting into the temple without harm all the more safe. I have an idea that he went to scout the temple out before telling us it's safe." With that said they got down and ate.

Two hours after a slightly sweaty Ichigo covered in dust and a small cut on his cheekbone came out like he didn't just scout an entire temple within a few hours.

He walked calmly to Urahara who handed a plate of food to his lover. Ichigo flopped down and started to eat. Halfway through his meal he uttered.

"I disabled all the traps its safe." And continued to eat his meal with gusto.

Urahara just smiled and patted Ichigo. The rest of the team just stared, they didn't know what to make of this. So they left it as it was.

Once Ichigo was done they geared up and manned into the temple. Armed with cameras, guns(not that anyone believed that they would be used.) along with all the other gear needed to examine the walls and such. Ichigo walked along side Urahara while the man showed out interesting things on the building dating where it was built and what kind of manor of labour was used. Ichigo would sometimes mumble softly to the blonde at what his tenant had to say about the temple.

All in all the two were in their own world and that didn't bother anyone when the smiles on their faces were taken into consideration.

After the first day they had a quarter of the temple done and dusted(Literally) they returned to camp for dinner.

The next day a heavy feeling sunk over the group. Ichigo was on edge as was Grimmjow, the fact that the two people whose instincts were never wrong was suddenly on guard made the whole group tense. They all knew it couldn't be the temple as Ichigo did such a thorough job of scouting a head that they all looked for places an ambush could come from.

Being in a forest more like jungle, well made these sports many in number.

There was a sudden snap of a twig being stepped on that made everything explode into chaos.

Ichigo was gone in a heartbeat while shots were fired from multiple sides. everyone took cover where they could and listened to sudden screams of pain that didn't belong to anyone on their team. In what felt like hours being only minutes silence rained over them.

Stumbling out form the flora Ichigo looked around seeing the carnage of what was once a well set up camp ruined. He sighed and rubbed his face with both hands.

"Same as last time." Urahara looked to see Ichigo was luckily this time unharmed, with a relieved breath escaping his lungs he sunk to the dirt floor of the jungle.

Ichigo made his way over and sat next to him, with a wary sigh Ichigo slumped next to Urahara and passed out, dead to the world. He didn't tell the rest that it was double the men as last.

* * *

A week later they returned tired and feeling the need for a good shower.

They went home, dumped their bags filled with dirty clothes in the washing room and went to the shower. Before Ichigo could go to his own he was dragged along by Urahara. Showering together was an innocent act as both men didn't have the energy to move much. Once they were sufficiently clean Kisuke dried Ichigo's hair for him, with that done they slipped into some boxers and crawled into the bed before snuggling up and falling asleep almost instantly.

Tessai who heard the loud commotion went to investigate, he found the bags in the washing room, after he heard the shower. Giving them enough time after the shower he peaked inside the room and saw both men out like a light.

There was a knock on the door that Ururu opened. Tessai heard Aizen's voice, walking to the front door where the raven haired teenager was busy closing the door behind Aizen. The brunette smiled his charming smile at the young lady who blushed faintly.

Turning his attention to the larger man he nodded. "Greetings Tessai, I assume Urahara and Ichigo are back?"

Tessai shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "They returned but it seemed the trip tired them both out that they went straight to the showers before retiring to the bed. I suspect they would be up in a few hours." The large man expected Aizen to nod and leave but the man then asked if he could remain till they woke. Unsure he agreed.

Two hours later the two men stumbled into the living room a little more alive than they came. when they both saw the brunette on the couch with a cup of tea in had along with the serious expression on his face…

Well it snapped them wide awake and alert.

Aizen noticed Ichigo was tenser than Urahara which was odd but he guessed it was more to do with the fact he was scared not only for himself but his blonde lover beside him, unlike Urahara Ichigo could easily slip away with his shifting ability.

Sighing he motioned to the couch. The two men took the hint and sat down.

"I have a name but you might not like what you find." The man sat back and sighed. "It is Szayel's fault by accident."

Ichigo frowned and leaned forward motioning for the man to continue.

"Szayel made documents about what he found in hopes of helping you, he didn't mention you name but he unfortunately didn't leave out physical attributes. Well black covered skin and long hair was more than enough for these men, one of his greedy assistants saw this and took it upon themselves to give it to some… not so… pleasurable associates."

Clearing his throat Aizen went on.

"I have dealt with the most but it seemed most of those involved have deviated and are still after you." He gave Ichigo one look and knew that something happened on the island. Ichigo sat back and sighed.

"There was another attempt while we were on the island meaning they had to have us followed somehow… and well took their chance. Luckily no on was hurt on our side but… well I wasn't so lenient as last time." Ichigo huffed and leaned into Urahara who was still seeing the aftermath of killing someone for the first time.

Aizen hummed and looked around.

"I am placing you both and this house under guard." He said with a no nonsense tone, not that either man would object at this point.

The meeting went on as Aizen explained how they would be watched and were both given a panic remote with a tracker inside. The man bid them good-bye and left. Tessai then came to ask if they wer hungry which both men nearly pleaded for a home-cooked meal.

* * *

Three weeks passed and all was well enough.

The Kurosaki clan paid them a visit and Urahara could finally meet the twin sisters Ichigo treasured above himself. Karin was a female version of Ichigo only with black hair. Yuzu was a sweetheart that wouldn't harm a fly.

Dinner went well and from there on the couple had Isshin's full approval and blessing which took more off their shoulders than they realised.

Ichigo was walking with the two kinds from the grocers when their pursuers finally hit.

They were surrounded and Ichigo being more worried about the kids told them to run, with his back turned he was hit with a tranquilizer dart with enough drug to knock out two fully grown elephants.

And with no time to push the panic button in his back pocket.

Urahara was in a state of panic, it was like he was the remote with the panic button pushed.

Ururu was a sobbing mess while Junta was trying to calm her down, Tessai was at the police station to inform them while Urahara just sat there on the couch with Aizen and his team all around him buzzing.

No one knew where Ichigo was.

* * *

Groaning Ichigo opened his eyes blurry vision clearing as he blinked rapidly.

His shoulder ached as well as the spot between his shoulder blades. Lifting his head he noticed a few things that froze the blood in his veins in fear. One he was chained to the ground. He was on his knees with his hands bound by the wrists behind him which was connected to the clasps around his ankles which were sadly bolted to the ground concrete.

The other thing he noticed was he was in a big room bare of anything. There was a window opposite him that showed the people behind it. Men with masks like doctors all scurrying around and writing on clipboards as if his awakened state was something of a miracle.

What Ichigo didn't know was that he was out for just four hours and that the crazy quacks barely locked the door when he woke up. He was supposed to be out for far longer. In fact if he was human he would have gone into a coma like state with the amount of drugs in his system.

Looking around he noticed that there was a door next to the window and that all sides of the room were of grey hard concrete.

He heard Hichigo having a hissy fit in the back of his mind not yet aware of Ichigo who was now awake. He hummed inside his head which made the white being instantly shut up.

 ** _"_** ** _Ichigo?"_** he asked as if he wasn't sure if the red head was awake.

"So nice of you to stop your rant, I think that was probably what woke me up." Ichigo commented with sarcasm.

There was however a small lick of panic in his voice that Hichigo noticed.

Before the white being could speak Ichigo asked something he wasn't so sure about himself. "Do you think I can shift? These things are pretty tight."

Hichigo hummed and materialised behind Ichigo to inspect the cuffs. They were skin tight and would shift with Ichigo if there wasn't something between them. A growl escaped his throat, he walked to the front of Ichigo.

 ** _"_** ** _No luck it would shift with you."_** Ichigo hung his head in slight defeat and other part thought. Ichigo hummed as he thought of a way to escape, his thoughts were broken when the heavy metal door opened with a groan. He glared at the masked doctor, this wasn't going end well one way or another.

Hichigo watched with anger filled eyes that switched to horror filled eyes when a large needle was suddenly struck into Ichigo's inner elbow to draw an unnecessary amount of blood.

Hissing Ichigo growled at the quack who jumped and scurried out the room like he was some wild animal. Growling louder he glared a poisonous look at the doctors look at him thought the window each of their eyes went wide when he suddenly started to struggle. He hissed and cursed all the way as the sensitive skin of his arms were rubbed and started to chafe.

Yes the skin was sensitive but it was also rather tough. The doctor struggle to get the needle into his skin. Now he was trying to get loose on pure strength that and he was pissed. He was angry and the smarter part of his brain thought that if he put himself in enough danger the doctors would panic and make a mistake. Hichigo sat helpless and watched as Ichigo struggled against the bonds.

He didn't know what to do. He remembered the panic button Ichigo had on and started to look at Ichigo happy to notice that there was a small block object in the back of Ichigo's pant pocket. His cell phone was removed from his front pocket but the jean Ichigo was wearing had a hidden back pocket that was hard to see if you didn't know it was there.

 ** _"_** ** _Ichigo."_** Hichigo got Ichigo to calm down a little, brown eyes met his gold ones. _"_ _ **You have the panic button in you back pocket."**_ He said and watched as Ichigo's eyes went wide before a calculating gleam appeared.

He hummed again and glanced at the crazy doctors frantically watching him as if to see what he would do now that he had seemed to calm down, he hissed at them smirking when he saw them all recoil. Hichigo snickered at this finding it just as humorous as the red head.

Growling low in his throat Ichigo clenched his hands making the venom involuntarily come out. Luckily the doctors didn't see this as Ichigo was in the way. He sneered feeling his anger boil all the more, using the anger he started to struggle. The more he struggled the less attached to the world around him he became. Soon he couldn't hear the frantic sounds of the doctors nor Hichigo's concerned one.

* * *

Grimmjow was staring at Ulquiorra with a bored look but the green eyed male could see the small traces of worry and anger in them, he was currently trying to get the panic button to go into panic. Sadly it was a time consuming task as he had to get through a few firewalls and such. That and he kept losing the panic device's signal as if Ichigo went underground and came back up again. After four hours he finally got the signal. It seemed that he had stopped.

Working as fast as he could, his white fingers flew over the keyboard.

He typed the correct codes and everything in with incredible speed making Aizen proud that his subordinate was as good as he was.

The pale man made a hum noise that signalled he had the man's location. He wrote it down and gave it to the brunette.

With a raised fist they all got suited up and into the SUV trucks. Urahara and the kids along with Tessai stayed behind not wanting to get in the way.

The address was three hours away so they fuelled up and road to the neighbouring city where Ichigo was hopefully.

They drove in silence while each member wondered about what they would find. They would soon find out as Nnoitra drove the one SVU nearly over the speeding limit.

Back with Ichigo who was still struggling, his wrists hurt like hell as did his ankles. He was starting to bleed slightly but it wasn't enough, Hichigo noticed the smell of blood and looked at Ichigo as if he was a god. Of course! Blood would act as the perfect layer to make sure that the cuffs wouldn't shift with him. Why didn't he thing of this!?

Yet he didn't like how much Ichigo was struggling, after another half hour Ichigo had to stop and take a breather. He growled at the doctors who were now somehow more meaning that this was probably all the doctors and scientist involved.

The door opened and an elderly man came in and dragged a chair with him, he sat down in a dignified manner that had Ichigo growling at him. The man arched an eyebrow at Ichigo.

"Is growling and hissing all you can do or are you actually capable of speech?" Ichigo's frowned deepened. With a slightly raspy voice Ichigo spat out. "Fuck. You."

The elder man looked a little put off and raised his clipboard.

"Mind telling us your abilities? The file on you is very vague." Ichigo gave a snort before cackling with mirth in his eyes. "Like I'd tell you, what do you think I'm stupid? You can test me all you like you won't find anything to answer that question."

The man looked angrier then a minute before but Ichigo didn't care. He wasn't going to be some damn crazy quacks test subject. Szayel told him that he did further tests on his blood and found absolutely nothing different.

Even the small scraps of black skin showed black pigmented skin and nothing else.

Brown eyes glared back into the older man's deep brown ones.

The man tapped his pen on the clip board in a annoyed gesture, Hichigo on the other hand was struggling to keep his laugh in, why Ichigo didn't know. Only he would hear.

Ichigo watched as the man rose and left the room, the moment the door was closed he started to thrash around worse than before, he hissed as the small cuts on his wrists and ankles worsened allowing more blood to seep though. He wanted a nice thick amount before he tried shifting.

The scientists and doctors on the other side of the window looked on like a crowd at a horror show. No one wanted to get close to the man, no one.

After an hour of struggling Ichigo was somewhat out of breath and in a lot of pain, Ichigo glanced at Hichigo who was looking at him with a smidge more worry in his eyes. _"Do you think this is enough?"_ he asked mentally.

Hichigo walked around Ichigo and looked at the sheer mess he made of his ankles and wrists. There was a thick layer of blood. Thick enough.

 ** _"_** ** _Yeah, that's enough I'd say."_**

Nodding with a look of determination on his face that sent the men and woman watching on the other side into a tense state of anticipation, growling Ichigo focused on the area just in front of the chair.

With the weightless feeling along with the pushed feeling Ichigo felt his arms and legs give a small tug before getting loose and then he felt the ground under his hands and feet. Breathing a little laboured he rose on shaky legs. His ankles and wrists were bleeding badly. They had removed his shoes and cell phone but not the panic button in his hidden jean pocket. He reached in and drew it out allowing the scientists to see. With a sneer he pushed the button and dropped the remote, what Ichigo didn't know was that his rescue was an hour or so away.

In the car the laptop holding the direction on Ulquiorra's lap made a loud noise. Green eyes went wide and looked down. "He pushed the panic button."

This made the members in the vehicle go eerily quiet.

Nnoitra growled and said fuck it in his head, he then floored the gas pedal making the large car move faster down the streets. Luck was on their side as they got no attention from the cops.

They stopped at a building that was about five stories al white and just screamed science.

The two SUV vehicles moved to the back of the building's alley. They got out and geared up with grim determination on each face. The poor back door was mercilessly kicked in by an utterly pissed Nnoitra.

Moving like a well oiled machine the group moved down the hallways but they found not a soul. A sudden scream of a woman followed by what sounded like pure chaos followed. The group moved faster coming to a large room with a big window showing Ichigo with bloody wrists and feet. He was growling at the panicking men and women wearing white coats.

They watched as Ichigo arched a brow at the panic in the other room. He was clearly not impressed.

He looked down at his hands and to the side where there was nothing but air to their eyes.

This got the scientists attention as they finally calmed down enough to notice Ichigo wasn't attacking them. Te group watched as Ichigo wiggled his fingers before falling to his knees. What happened next was so… unnatural that not even Aizen knew how to take it in.

Ichigo raised his arms into the air a foot or so from the ground before slamming his fingers into the ground that was made of solid hard concrete. They all thought he was going to cut the concrete but that wasn't what he did.

The concrete started to crack around his fingers in large chunks. The concrete started to move as if on its own but there were fine black tendrils surrounding the concrete. It suddenly clinked in Aizen's mind. Ichigo had a manipulative ability and the fact that non living materials had no will. It would be easy for the man to manipulate it.

The concrete chunks floated up into the air and started to form what looked like a humanoid figure. The large creature move to wall behind Ichigo and literally smashed it into smithereens. Ichigo gave a lopsided grin meeting Aizen's eyes. With a low chuckle Ichigo back pedalled four steps before shifting thought the hole his concrete giant stumbled though.

No one saw Ichigo's fingers making small twitching movements along the way.

The brunette leader caught the look and sighed while shaking his head. "Boys get them." Grimmjow and Nnoitra hooted and started to taunt and tease the poor poor scared shitless quacks. Aizen went to the door and found it to be locked, without missing a beat he shot the lock with his handgun. The shot made most scientists and doctors jump in fright. Without looking back Aizen walked into the room only to see binds near flooded with blood. This was why Ichigo's hands and feet were in such an appealing state.

Tsking Aizen walked thought the hole being care of the small rocks and debris all over the place. What was behind the was made Aizen wonder of those men really studied for their degrees. A very quiet street was just behind the wall that housed Ichigo.

"How… idiotic."

"I have to agree." Aizen turned to see Ichigo sitting on top of his concrete creation with a bored look on his face. He was looking around seeming to not really take in what he was seeing.

"Are you alright?" Aizen asked getting Ichigo's brown hues on him. Ichigo looked down at his wrists and grimaced.

"Nah I feel dirty, I'm in pain and I wanna go home." He said trying to ignore the feeling of announce.

This brought a smile to Aizen's face. "Well you're in luck, we came to fetch you and rid you of these nuisances as well. Now come down from there so we can go." Ichigo huffed and twitched a finger. The brunette watched amazed as the concrete giant simply fell apart as if the strings holding it together snapped.

Ichigo hissed as his feet met the ground. Aizen helped the red head to the SUV, he informed the team by radio that a van would come by to help with the loading of the men and women. Ulquiorra and Nel came to help as Ichigo sat between the two while Aizen drove the three hours back.

* * *

Urahara was pacing back and forth back and forth, Junta was getting slightly annoyed. Before he could yell at the blonde man to sit down the door was opened and a tired Ichigo was carried in by Aizen as Ichigo fell asleep on the way. Tessai took hold of Ichigo and started to work on the man's abused limbs.

Aizen relayed all that happened to Urahara who was now frowning heavily.

"I think I might know who they are now." The blonde spoke and rose to stand next to Ichigo's slumbering form.

"A few years ago a large group was banned from all scientific and medical matters when they found that they had kidnapped many people and even experimented on them. Ichigo's lucky. They only had him for a day. If he was there longer he would have been… tested on." the last part was nearly spat out.

A frown marred his face.

"I just don't know how they knew where Ichigo was I know they got the file on him but they had to get more info from someone."

Humming Aizen promised he would look into this.

Ichigo didn't wake up till the next morning complaining that he was hungry and he wanted Urahara. Kisuke chuckled and led Ichigo into the kitchen trying hard to ignore the white bandages around his lover's wrists and ankles.

Kisuke made a hearty breakfast for his lover knowing well that the man had missed a full day's worth of meals. The rest of the day passed peacefully however there was a knock on the door.

Ururu went to answer it along with Junta. Ichigo and Urahara jumped up from the couch they were sitting on when the two kinds screamed and there was the sound of a gunshot going off. Tessai being the man from the army didn't rush in like a blind fool. He stood in the kitchen where he could easily see what was happening but it was hard to see him if you didn't look at the kitchen itself.

Blue hair and a crazy grin greeted the two men. Tessai worked stealthily to get to the kids, he made it and dragged Junta's passed out body that had a bullet hole in his lower stomach, Ururu was in a state of shock and didn't make a peep.

He gently got the kids into the safe room, he got out his phone and dialled not the police but Aizen.

Mayuri grinned at Ichigo who frowned at him with an ugly sneer in his face.

"I have come to get back my test subject."

* * *

 **Right….**

 **This is the second last chapter so you all know. I'm sorry of this whole thing feels rushed…**

 **I don't know really how I feel about this thing but I won't remove it so don't worry if you like it.**

 **I have a small question for you all, I will make a poll for it.**

 **In my new story Ichigo is the seme again(YAY!)**

 **You will have three options!**

 **Only three! HAH!**

 **…** **.**

 **Oh yeah! All mistakes of spelling and so forth will be fixed when I am done with this story. You'll have a while to vote for the new story so don't worry cause I have to fix Bleached paths as best I can!**

 **Thanks for the support!**


	8. Dangling strings

**So last chapter!**

 **New story will be up as soon as I possibly can, need to fix here as best I can before going another one that will take a while longer.**

 **Thanks for the ones who read up till this point!**

 **This one will be on the short side sadly…**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Dangling strings**

Urahara glared at Mayuri.

"So it was you." He stated not questioned.

The blue haired man kept his gun trained on the blonde but kept giving Ichigo side glances, mostly to the white bandages around black skin.

Hichigo materialised beside Ichigo, there was an odd look in his eyes, gold on black eyes framed by white lashes narrowed with an inquisitive look in them. **_"He 'as venom in his system."_** Ichigo had to fight to keep his frown from turning into a shocked look.

 _"_ _Are you sure?"_

 ** _"_** ** _Positive."_**

While Ichigo was talking to Hichigo, Urahara and Mayuri were throwing poisonous words at one another. Ichigo didn't pick up on what was said but the anger in Urahara's voice had given him a clue that the two were arguing about morals which the blue haired man had none.

Hichigo glanced at the blonde man beside them and his eyes went wide. **_"Um… Ichigo… Urahara has venom inside him as well…"_** The fact that Ichigo's eyes went wide in reality made both men look his way. Brown eyes shot towards Urahara in what was a look of pure shock.

 _"_ _Are you sure?"_ Ichigo almost said out loud but only a low whine like noise came out.

Both men watched as Ichigo looked back and forth between the two men as if he was trying to think of something. He sneered at Mayuri and moved his hands to be slightly behind his back. The blue haired scientist watched the dangerous hands but Ichigo had his fingers behind his back. He slowly allowed the black strings to materialise and slid into the link-wave of the venom inside both men. He frowned deeply as he feels the connections solidify and become stable.

He gave a glance to the man beside him, an apologetic look in his eyes.

With one twitch both men were on the ground gasping for breath.

* * *

Tessai listened as the phone ringed, in his mind he was swearing like a sailor.

The click of the other line being picked up sent him into action. Without missing a beat he started to explain.

"Mayuri was the one who was originally after Ichigo, he came in and shot Jinta and knocked Ururu out, he has Ichigo and Urahara at gun point, that's the last I saw before I took the kids to the panic room for treatment." While he spoke he gently pried the bullet out of the poor teen's abdomen nearing the shoulder to his right. Ururu was still out with a nasty bump to her temple. While holing the phone to his ear with his shoulder he quickly stitched up the bullet hole and bandaged it with care.

"Ah… I will send my best members. I just hope all is well." With that Aizen ended the call.

* * *

Grimmjow and the rest sat in silence as they spend to Ichigo's rescue… again. Nel wasn't her chirpy self as Nnoitra wasn't his loud mouth self. Ulquiorra was as quiet as ever but there was a slight tenseness to his shoulders that spoke volumes.

Aizen drove the first of the two SUV's in silence frowning slightly at the road before him.

He was with Momo when he got the call, in fact he was with her in a doctor's appointment where they did checkups on both of them. Just as Aizen got the best news of his life he got the worse news straight after. Dropping off his three week pregnant wife at home without telling her what was wrong. All he said was that he was going to give Urahara the great news.

Momo had thankfully bought it.

Now stopping at the once lively house they all noticed an off feeling surrounding it. They got out of the cars and slowly got their weapons at the ready. Creeping closer with next to nothing sounds they opened the front door with the muzzle of a rifle. They crept in and looked around only to freeze when they saw Urahara looking forward with wide eyes. There was a iron door closed shut on their side which Aizen knew to be the panic room that required either Tessai to punch in the key code or Urahara do it from outside but he doubt Urahara would be able to do it as he was stock still.

Aizen made his way to the blonde to see he was breathing fine but otherwise didn't move a muscle. Grey eyes locked onto his when he came into the man's view. Urahara grinned slightly.

"I can't move." Urahara said as if it would explain everything and it did.

Looking around Aizen saw no signs of struggle. He met the grey eyes again.

"Ichigo made Mayuri stand up and walk out the door, you all missed him by a few minutes. Somehow Ichigo injected venom into both of us without us knowing. I know where mine could have been but I am not so sure about Mayuri other than I am glad it had been injected." Aizen nods and looks around just as the iron door releases a gush of wind signalling its opening.

Tessai came out carrying both kids. He made no move to stop as he walked further into the room to where Aizen guessed the kids rooms were.

Looking around they all nodded.

This was out of their hands.

* * *

Mayuri struggled with all his might as his body moved without his consent. They were walking in the alley ways between busy streets and such. Ichigo's control over his body was a fierce one, he couldn't even move his mouth to scream for help. All he controlled were his eyes and breathing.

Ichigo was a distance of a few steps away but it was in such a manner that no one would think he was following the blue haired male.

As they walked to the more crowded area Mayuri noticed that the pain in his system was getting worse the more upset Ichigo became. The red head was clearly mad.

They made it to the city square where most of the city's population gathered throughout the day. Out of the corner of his eye Mayuri saw Ichigo moving to stand on the corner of one street with a rather evil looking smirk on his face.

Nonchalantly he raised his hand and wiggled his fingers in smooth motions, the pain resided but the fact remained that his body was moving to another's tune and it was infuriating. Once he was in the centre where all could see him, he did stand out with his blue hair and face paint.

He's mortification grew as his body was ordered to do a dance that was more common in the western times with jumps and heel kicks. People started to laugh and point at him as he twirled around and made all sorts of provocative gestures while his eyes watched on in panic. His eyes locked with Ichigo's brown hues that twinkled with mischief.

He knew he wasn't going to enjoy the outcome of this day.

* * *

Urahara suddenly flopped onto the ground gasping for breath. It was the oddest feeling he had ever felt in his life. The man wobbled up and went to the couch to sit next to Aizen, the man was busy flipping though channels. When they reached the news channel they both froze.

The group could see from the kitchen, the too froze when they saw the lady of the news channel fighting to make her face natural but was failing as she listened to her fellow cast man.

"In today's news… a man with blue hair and face paint was seen dancing in city central. People were highly amused. The man was seen dancing to no music what so ever. After an hour the man left without a word, we have footage here." Both man and woman turned to the large screen while the footage was shone full screen to the viewers. Nnoitra and Grimmjow were first to start laughing before the rest of the house were howling with laughter as they watched Mayuri dance like a lunatic cowboy.

The laughter died down to giggles before stopping all together. Now they all wondered what the red head was planning to do.

They got their answers when an emergency news broadcast was suddenly thrown onto TV. The same man and woman from before now had more dire looks on their faces.

"This is an emergency news broadcast. Earlier today a man who was seen dancing in city centre was found in a lab that had its alarm set off. The man was found unconscious with large amounts of highly toxic and illegal materials and toxins all around him. An investigation was set in and the teams found that the man was what most would call a mad scientist. He will now stand trial for things such as attempted murder, murder, kidnapping and more." The TV was switched off as they heard the front door open.

Necks snapped to see Ichigo lounging against the door with a satisfied look on his face.

"So much better than killing him huh? Stupid idiot didn't even had cameras in his entire lab, no footage of me ever being in there. Hah he will be in the smaller for a very very long time." Ichigo huffed and moved to sit on Urahara's lap as there was no room for him to sit anywhere else, not that he minded.

The group burst out in giggles and laughter as they cheered the red head, Aizen's news of being a father in the next nine months made the cheers escalade into deafening.

That night Urahara was suddenly over come with the feeling he now knew was Ichigo taking over his body. He was moved to take off his clothes and laid on the bed. Looking at the doorway he saw his boyfriend with a wicked smirk on face with a naughty glint in his brown eyes. He gulped as his lower body gave a nice big jump.

Ichigo moved into the room with slow motions. He slowly and teasingly so removed his shirt swaying side to side to a tune in his head. he dropped the flimsy material onto the floor to be forgotten till the next day. He shimmied his way out his pants, he had sweatpants on throughout the entire happenings of the day as well as being barefoot. Urahara groaned when he was Ichigo had gone commando.

The red head moved onto the foot of the bed slowly crawling his way up the blonde's body giving a nip here and a lick there.

By then Urahara was hard as a rock and just wanted some friction but he was unable to move. His skin however as he found out was rather sensitive when he was under the red head's control. Each touch was like it was magnified and intensified. He panted as Ichigo moved to his member only to pass it without a touch. He groaned loudly as Ichigo slid his body over his like some sort of snake. The skin on skin contact as well as their straining arousals making glorious friction sent both men shivering.

Ichigo leaned over Urahara and whispered with a husky tone.

"I am going to ride you till you blow." With that he twitched his finger and this the blonde's hand rose to the red head's entrance only to feel it was prepped and ready to go. Suddenly the image of Ichigo pleasuring himself came into his mind.

"I'll let you watch one day." Ichigo teased as he leaned back to grab the hunk of blood thickened man. He lowered himself onto Urahara making both men hiss in pleasure. Breathing hard Ichigo used his strong thighs to raise himself and then used gravity to slam him down, both men nearly shouted as ecstasy flooded their systems. Ichigo breathed harshly while he sped his tempo.

Urahara was in pure heaven, heaven as his love rode him, Ichigo bounced and gasped as his magic gland was hit full on, he threw his head back and started to rub himself all over his shoulders, chest and tummy. Urahara could only watch as his body was under full control of his lover and he was loving every minute of it.

But alas all good things need to end. They both screamed in pleasure as came hard, Ichigo moaned when he felt heat spreading inside of him. Urahara groaned as he felt Ichigo's hold vanish. He sat up and wrapped his arms around Ichigo's waist. Still inside the red head he rose and walked over to the shower for round two.

"I can just imagine the things you could do now." Urahara mumbled into Ichigo's ear.

On the side line sitting on the lone chair in the corner of the room sat a happy Hichigo who wasn't even trying to hide the fact he got a massive nosebleed.

He snickered when he heard Ichigo gasp and moan at whatever Urahara was doing to him.

 ** _"_** ** _Heh, this is going to be an interesting life."_**

* * *

 **So… there… it's done…**

 **XO**

 **So the new story will begin when I am finished fixing this story's flaws as I have already done Bleached Paths(Though I wouldn't be surprised if I missed some things but oh well.)**

 **Thanks for the support!**

 **The next story will be named Snow Prince!**

 **TA TA~**


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